Dark Angel: Rules Can Be Broken
by elle6778
Summary: COMPLETE. Max decided that after searching for so long for her siblings, she had no intention of just standing back and letting Zack walk away. Then, just to complicate matters, another transgenic turned up. Aiming for MZ. Set at the end of '411 on the D
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

Title: Rules Can Be Broken (For once I managed to find a title with more than one word, lol!)  
Rating: PG-13  
Show: Dark Angel  
Genre: Drama/Action/Romance  
Summary: Set at the end of '411 on the DL' (Season 1). Max decided that after searching for so long for her siblings, she had no intention of just standing back and letting Zack walk away.

Status: Complete

A/N: For those of you who are familiar with my work, you would know that this is my first Max and Zack centric fic. Since Season 1 seemed like such a long time ago, this first chapter is just to set the scene so that everyone knows where we are in the timeline. I need to thank **angelofdarkness78** for asking me for this fic, or else it wouldn't be here. And **X5898** for helping me understand Zack's complicated character!

* * *

**Rules Can be Broken - Chapter 1**

(by elle6778)

He did not bother to turn back even once.

Max watched with mixed feelings as he walked away, torn between letting him go and running after him to stop his flight. Her face scrunched up as she mulled over her choice of words. Flight; because Zack had given her the impression that he was still running.

Then she realised that all of them were, but he was the one who had no intention of stopping. Not that she knew what the rest of her siblings thought. She just could not imagine the rest of them doing what Zack was doing.

As she continued to stare at him, their last words to each echoed in her head.

He had told her, his voice hard, "If you stay here, you risk tactical exposure. Or have you forgotten everything that they taught us?"

Annoyed, she had tried to make him understand her point, "No, but I'm trying real hard at it. You're still back at Manticore. Maybe I'm chasing a sentimental lie, but at least I'm trying to get away from it."

His face set in stone, he had replied with a tone of finality, "I can't be responsible for you if you won't listen."

She hated it when he looked like that. Careful not to show her irritation, she had pleaded with him, "Zack, don't go. Please."

But it had not achieved the result she had wanted. He had steadfastly insisted, "I have to," then he paused. He had reached out a hand to trace her cheek, giving her a somewhat wistful look, "They did a good job on you, Max. Turned out okay."

That was when he had walked away. She had wanted to call out to him but she had known that it was pointless. When Zack made up his mind about something, he would stick to it, no matter what anyone says. He had always been like that. It must be something they had taught all the COs when they had been back in Manticore.

When he had told her that he had wanted to bring her to San Francisco, her heart had given a small jump of excitement. Until she thought of the friends she would be leaving behind if she went. Then he had said something about them splitting up. At that moment, she had made her decision. However reluctant she was to leave her friends, she might have considered it if he had agreed to remain with her, and allowed her access to her other siblings. Uprooting herself to go stay in some unknown place where she did not know a soul was another matter.

It had taken more than ten years for her to get this close to one of her siblings, and she felt cheated that Zack was just going to walk away. She understood what he meant by tactical exposure and the need to keep them all apart. It was one of these rules which Manticore had drummed into them when they were kids, so it was kind of hard to erase. But that did not mean that she agreed with it. Zack on the other hand, seemed to be taking that rule a hundred percent to heart.

She had heard this saying sometime ago; Rules are meant to be broken.

An idea presented itself to her, causing her to break into a grin. Suddenly, things seemed a bit better. If rules were meant to be broken, then that's exactly what she would do.

* * *

Don't look back; that was what Zack kept telling himself as he forced his legs to take one step after another away from Max. He wanted to just drag her along with him and bodily move her to San Francisco where it would be safer for her. But he knew that she would not do it if she did not want to. 

This trip had meant to be like the rest where he just stops by in Seattle to check if she was alright. But she had not been alright. The girl had managed to get her barcode published on the newspapers for everyone to see, for god's sakes. The minute he saw the advertisement, he had dropped everything and came rushing. How could she be so careless as to trust Vogelsang? The man could have led Lydecker directly to her if Zack had not interfered.

He had been surprised when Vogelsang had somehow found out about the tattoo parlour where he had his barcode removed, leading her to him. The fact that she had succeeded in tracking him down had been a bit of a surprise, but it gave him a sense of pride at her ability.

When she had broken into his apartment and found out who he was, the last thing he had expected was for her to hug him. It had been a shock because Manticore had never been big on all these affection stuff. Their usual form of contact with each other, well, his usual form of contact with another person had been in the form of fist-fighting during sparring. Max, on the other hand, had been physically quite close to Ben, but never with him. He supposed that his status as a CO was kind of an invisible barrier which prevented others from getting too close. For which he was glad for as he had never hankered for such pointless stuff.

Zack could see the outline of his apartment building now. The area around it looked clear; Lydecker's people appeared to have moved on. But appearance could be deceiving, as Manticore had taught them long ago. _Lull your opponents into a false sense of security. Then attack._ Those words he had heard countless times before back in Manticore echoed in his head. Lydecker probably had posted a few of them around the building to see if he returned. Zack would have done that himself if he had been in that position.

He smiled slightly as he crept stealthily towards the building, noting an ill-concealed soldier by the dumpster on the left side, which confirmed his suspicions. They did not make him a CO for no reason; he could spot these sorts of thing from a mile away.

His eyes darted quickly to the right, spotting a shiny barrel pointing from a window in the building opposite his. A few minutes more of reconnaissance told him that there were three more of them scattered around. Zack shook his head. _Hopeless soldiers_, he thought. Lydecker must have sent the rest to comb the city, seeing that there were not that many of them here.

Moving back into the shadows, he wondered if he should come back another day for his bike. He had stupidly done something he had always told his siblings not to do; forming an attachment to something. It was a weakness they could not afford to have. But his Ducati had been the only constant in his life and he wanted to keep it that way.

The question was; was it worth the risk?

It took him only a few seconds to come to a decision.

* * *

Max could not believe what her eyes were telling her. 

The last thing she had expected was for Zack to return to his apartment. She had thought he would have just left without risking further exposure to Lydecker, but obviously she was wrong.

He was well-hidden behind some trees. If she had not followed him all the way from the railway tracks, she would never have spotted him. That was not surprising seeing that he was, after all, the best of their lot. Her eyes followed him as he moved stealthily towards the adjacent apartment building, wondering what he was planning to do. The only way to find out was for her to go along.

As the familiar rush of adrenaline coursed through her, she blurred silently towards the spot occupied by Zack a second ago. A quick scan around told her that it was safe for her to continue. Crouching low, she made her way to the building he had just entered and proceeded to do the same.

The abandoned building was pitch black, but with her enhanced vision, she could see everything as clearly as most people would have done in broad daylight. She could guess what Zack was trying to do. He must be attempting to enter his apartment through this one. Moving swiftly up the stairs, she hoped that she would not lose track of Zack.

She was at the fourth floor when suddenly, she was grabbed from behind. It took her a couple of second after she tensed reflexively for a fight before she realized that it was Zack behind her. She had not thought that it was possible but she actually recognized his scent.

"Max! What the hell do you think you are doing?" She heard him hiss in her ear, loosening his grip on her as he became conscious of her identity.

Max turned around to give him a cheeky grin. "Watching your back, sir."

Not amused, his lips compressed in a tight line. "You know that Lydecker would love to catch us both all at once, right? You need to leave now."

She shrugged. "Well, I'm not going anywhere. Thought I should hang around you to brush up on my Escape and Evade. Hope you don't mind," she said flippantly.

Zack frowned as he looked at her. "Max, listen to me. It's not safe for you to come along. You're taking an unnecessary risk."

"It's my risk to take, Zack," she said stubbornly. Zack was not the only bull-headed one here.

"It's my responsibility to look after you, but I can't do it if you insist on ignoring orders," he hissed.

"You can keep a better lookout for me if I'm closer, don't you think?" Max asked, blinking not so innocently.

His irritation was evident as he snapped, "Fine. Do what you want."

Without waiting for her reply, he went towards a hole in the wall which used to accommodate a window. She was beginning to get an inkling of what he planned to do. He stood to one side as he peered out carefully at the opposite building, paying particular attention to the window one floor below theirs. It was not far, only about twenty feet or so away. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he backed up and took off towards the window at a run.

Max watched as he leapt gracefully across the gap between the two buildings, landing precisely on the windowsill. His arms were splayed wide to steady himself against the sides of the open window, allowing him to haul himself safely into the other building.

Cautiously sticking her head out of the window, she checked to see if Zack had been spotted. Satisfied that he had not, she followed his example and leapt across.

The air whizzed past her face as she flew straight at the open window. Then, mid-flight, she suddenly realized with a feeling of dread that she was too low. _Shit, not good_, she cursed in her head. Just as she was about to smack into the wall, she reached her hands out and managed to just grab hold of the windowsill.

She tried to not to think of the fact that her fingertips were the only thing that stopped her from plunging three storeys down.

_Great, now Zack have yet another thing to reprimand me about_, she thought grumpily.

* * *

**t.b.c**

A/N: (Fidgets nervously) So what do you think? Should I continue this? Or should I stop the torture on the readers? Please review and let me know! I need to know what you think especially since this is my first Zack fic.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: (Grins) Thanks you all for your support with my very first MZ fic!

**X5898** – Hey, you're the first reviewer! Thanks! Hmm…How come I felt like the first paragraph of your review was more like a threat? Lol! Yeah, about Max. I'm going to make sure that she doesn't forget to notice his skills (most of the time!). Glad you found the characters believable and in character (phew!), but I still insist that you played a part in it!

**Roxyroo **– I'm glad that you've decided to check this out. Hehe! Zack had to do something different, so why not go back for his bike?

**Sarah** – Thanks! Glad you think that it has potential. Read on and let me know what you think!

**Nikki** – Thanks for your kind words. I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter as well.

**Astra** – Max and Zack teaming up would be…interesting! Lol! Many things could happen!

**Angelofdarkness78** – The person responsible for the birth of this fic! Yes, YOU! This must be the most difficult one I had ever started. But I'm glad you think well of it so far. I agree with you about the '411 on the DL'. I just can't believe that Max let him walk away there. Hope this chapter would give you a break from your homework! Hehe!

**BlueAngel137** – I feel apprehensive because this is my first MZ fic! But your review made me feel better about it. I'm glad you find that they're not OoC.

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**Rules Can be Broken - Chapter 2**

(by elle6778)

She tried to not to think of the fact that her fingertips were the only thing that stopped her from plunging three storeys down.

_Great, now Zack have yet another thing to reprimand her about_, she thought grumpily.

When she tried to pull herself up, a pair of strong hands reached down and wrapped around her wrists, yanking her through the window. Max tumbled onto the cold floor, landing just inches from Zack's boot.

She instantly bounced to her feet to face him. "Thanks," she whispered, arranging her face into a nonchalant mask as to not reveal how ruffled she was at her near fall. She did not need to give Zack another reason to think that she could not take care of herself.

Zack scowled at her. "Try to be a little more focused the next time. I'm beginning to think that have you forgotten everything they had thought us," he hissed softly.

Max rolled her eyes. This had been the second time in that night that he had said that same thing. "Oh, come off it, Zack. It's not like I fell or anything."

"You almost damned well did!" he exclaimed heatedly.

"I'm perfectly capable of dragging myself back up, Zack," she defended herself, her irritation rising. Zack should know that she could take care of herself. Especially as earlier that same night, she had helped him to take down several of Lydecker's men.

"Fine, if you say so. I would love to knock some sense into you, but right now I have something else to do," he snapped, turning to walk down the hallway, not looking back to see if Max was following him.

Soundlessly, Max fell into step behind him after deciding to hold her tongue against telling him that he might need her help. That stubborn CO of hers would definitely not appreciate her offer. But she had no intention of leaving him alone to face the enemy.

They did not make it very far before they spotted two soldiers standing just outside his apartment door. Zack instantly halted and signaled to her in a series of rapid hand gestures. Understanding his orders, Max gave him a small nod, inwardly smiling as she realized that he had decided to accept her presence.

They waited until the soldiers were facing away from them, then together, they blurred forward silently. Max took the one on the left, her arms going around the surprised man's neck. She tightened her grip until he slumped unconscious against her. Lowering him to the floor, Max looked around to see that Zack's victim was sprawled against the wall with his neck twisted at an unnatural angle.

He killed him, she thought in shock. Frowning, she gestured to the dead soldier and mouthed silently to Zack, "Do you have to do that?"

Zack just gave her an uncompromising look just before he bent down to detach the communication device from the unconscious soldier.

Not satisfied at the response she had gotten from Zack, Max decided that she would talk to Zack about it after he had got what he came for.

* * *

Zack decided that he needed to talk to Max about her way of thinking. Killing the soldier had been necessary. That's one less enemy to worry about in the future. But from the look she had given him, she had obviously disagreed. Tough, he thought. Who said he needed her approval anyway?

Knowing that this was not a good time to do any sort of talking, he shelved that topic into a corner of his mind for future reference. They would discuss it at a more appropriate setting.

The comms device crackled softly. Strapping it over his ears and mouth, Zack listened.

"Gamma-team, report status, over," a voice said from the earpiece.

Careful to keep his voice low to disguise his identity, Zack replied, "Negative visuals on subjects. Over."

"Keep us posted, Gamma-team. Over and out."

Zack put away the device. It was not likely that they would check again anytime soon, which gave him and Max a window of opportunity to retrieve his bike.

His bike.

A small frown marred his brow as doubts began to assail him. His mind suddenly flashed back to one cold morning when he and the rest of his unit had been gathered for one of their daily lessons. Sitting ramrod straight, his eyes had been focused to the front of the classroom as a military officer spoke, pointing to the words projected on the white wall.

"_Rule A.43: Attachment. Formation of attachment to any living being or object increases vulnerability and weakness, clouds judgment, and therefore is prohibited. Soldiers who find themselves in this position are to report to Command for evaluation."_

Zack quickly shook his head to clear the image. He did not need to remember what it had felt like; the mindless zombie look all of them had sported now gave him the shudders. _Get a grip, Zack. You have a retrieval mission to complete and you need to focus_, he told himself harshly. The flashback reminded him that he was breaking that rule, but he had made his decision and he intended to stick to it. Taking a deep breath, he let his eyes scan the surrounding.

Certain that there would be more soldiers posted inside the apartment, Zack signaled Max to enter only after he did. That way, they should keep the soldiers from raising the alarm too soon.

At the count of three, Zack shoved open the door and blurred inside. Almost immediately, he spotted two more soldiers.

He rushed to the one who was preparing to raise the alarm through his comms device, clamping his hand over the soldier's mouth before he could speak. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Max doing the same. Zack held on until he was sure that the soldier had passed out before he released his hold. Belatedly, he realized that he had refrained from killing the soldier.

_It's all Max's fault that I'm growing soft,_ he thought irritably. He shot an accusing look at Max just to see hergrinning at him in approval.

Rapidly, Zack went around the room grabbing some papers which might be incriminating, including Max's photos, the ad with Max's barcode and his bottle of Tryptophan. He shoved them all into a rucksack and then he went to his bike.

Putting on his helmet, Zack gestured for Max to follow as he pushed his bike out of the apartment.

"My bike's downstairs," she whispered as she walked alongside.

Zack peered at her over his shoulders. _That damned rule number A.43_, he thought irritably as he saw the hopeful look in her eyes. He wanted to tell he to leave it but understanding how she felt about leaving her bike behind, he said, "We'll be storming out through the front. There're five of them out there. Be ready to jump on your bike when we pass it, alright?"

They made their way down the platform lift without any further mishap. When they reached the ground floor, he straddled his bike and signaled for Max to do the same.

A second later, they roared out of the front door into the chilly night. Almost instantly, shouts rang out as the soldiers came out of hiding, all rushing towards the bike. Over the sound of the engine, he could hear one of them radioing for back-up. He knew that they needed to get out of there before Lydecker's troops arrived.

Spotting Max's bike as he swerved around a lamppost, Zack slowed down only a fraction to allow Max to get to it. He instantly felt the loss of the warmth of her body against his back as she jumped off.

A second later, he picked up the sound of her bike revving up a moment later.

Just as Max rode up next to him, the soldiers started shooting. Determined to evade them, Zack sped up, knowing that Max would have no problem following. He had seen her on her bike before and was confident that she could ride as well as he did.

He could hear the bullets whizzing past his ears as they moved further away from his apartment.

Then suddenly he heard a soft thud over the rumble of the bikes, followed by a sharp cry of pain.

His heart sped up as unwanted visions of what might have happened to Max flashed in front of him. "Max!" he called out in alarm as he darted his eyes to the other bike further back to one side of his.

"I'm okay," she yelled back.

Relief coursed through him as he noted that although she had been hit, Max still remained in control of her bike. He could see the determined expression on her face as she gritted her teeth against the pain.

He hoped that she could hang on for a while more until they got themselves out of the city.

* * *

"Damn it!" Max cursed under her breath as she forced herself to ignore the throbbing in her leg.

She had cried out with the shock of the impact when the bullet had hit the fleshy part of her thigh, passing clean though. And now she could feel the dampness around the area and the trickle of blood down her legs. Maneuvering the bike was not a problem. Keeping herself from fainting as a result of the loss of blood was.

The sound of the gun-shots had finally faded in the distance, she was glad to note. Dodging bullets when riding a bike was no easy feat, even for a transgenic.

After awhile, clusters of trees slowly replaced the buildings on either side of the road as they moved further away from civilization.

She turned to find Zack. Since they had been riding abreast all this time, she was puzzled to find him suddenly absent from her side. Then Max realized that Zack had slowed down. Reducing her speed, she came to a stop as Zack did so.

Wincing at the pain in her thighs, she gingerly propped her bike so that most of the weight ended up on her uninjured leg.

"Are you alright?" he asked, pulling his helmet off. His eyes traveled up and down her body until he spotted the damp patch on her trousers. "Is the bullet still in?" he asked, his expression unreadable.

Wondering if it would kill him to outwardly show that he was concerned, Max shook her head. "I'm surviving. Bullet passed through, but it hurts like hell."

"It needs to be cauterized," he said firmly.

Max rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah. But just in case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of nowhere here. Nothing but trees, and I'm not about to step out of my pants right here," she pointed out as she gestured around them.

Giving her a look of annoyance, he said, "I know. We have to go a bit further. There's a place I always stop by which is about an hours ride from here. Then we'll decide what to do with you. I still think that you should go to San Francisco. Seattle is not safe anymore. Lydecker's combing the city right now. You need to keep on the move."

Max glared at him. "We have gone through this, Zack. I'm not going anywhere especially if it means that we have to split. So why do you keep bringing it up?"

"I'm trying to keep you alive and away from Manticore. So stop being so stubborn, Max!"

"Look who's talking," she retorted, rolling her eyes. She knew that Zack was definitely the most stubborn of all of them.

Obviously exasperated with her attitude, he said tightly, "Fine, let's just get you cleaned up and we'll decide after that." With that, he reached into his rucksack and withdrew a shirt. Tossing it at her, he ordered, "Wrap this tight around the wound. It'll slow down the bleeding for a while."

She caught the shirt and quickly wrapped it around her thigh, wincing as she tied the two ends into a knot.

She could feel Zack watching her as she did so. Then seemingly satisfied that it would do until they arrived at their destination, Zack said briskly, "Good. Now let's go."

Max nodded quietly, watching him as he revved up his bike and started to move. She followed suit, rumbling behind him at first and then speeding up.

She had not really thought of a plan when she had decided to follow Zack tonight. All that she had wanted to do was to keep him from disappearing on her, or at least find out where he was based. Now that she had time to think on it during the ride, things began to seem a bit clearer to her. Leaving Seattle, and hence Original Cindy, Logan, Kendra and her friends from Jam Pony was not something she wanted to do, unless it meant that she would be reunited with her siblings. However, she also knew that the chances of persuading Zack to remain in Seattle would be close to nil and she had no intention of letting him leave without her. So, that basically left her with one last option.

She supposed that she had to persuade Zack to let her meet the rest of her siblings.

Her head began to throb from her thoughts. She needed to come up with a plan soon, but maybe she should leave it until she was in somewhere safe and comfortable, and somewhere where her frozen fingers could be thawed out. She wished that she had kept her bike gloves on.

They had been riding north for an hour when Max started to shiver a little. She was not surprised. The wind which had been whipping her hair back from her face had been icy cold.

A few minutes later, the shivers turned into spasmodic jerks. Max's eyes widened in realization.

_Oh, no. Not now!_ She thought desperately as her teeth clattered against each other. She recognized the fact that the shaking and shivering were a symptom of the onset of a seizure. Her system must be protesting against the loss of blood. _That damned Manticore can't even get something like the serotonin levels right_, she grouched irritably.

Max forced herself to keep her bike steady. _It shouldn't be long more_, she tried to reassure herself. A sudden violent shake made her swerve almost into Zack.

"What's going on Max?" she heard him shout at her over the wind.

Clenching her teeth, she gritted out shortly, "Seizure."

"Turn right now, the cabin is not far in," he said briskly, his helmet preventing Max from seeing any emotion he might have.

Max blinked against the blurriness in her eyes as she guided her bike to the right, entering a dirt road. Her body shook, but it was not because of the bumpy dirt road they were traveling on. _Almost there. Hang on, Max,_ she told herself as she spotted a small log cabin not far ahead.

When they finally arrived, Max released a sigh of relief which was interrupted by another round of shivers. She quickly dismounted before she could fall off. Hazily, she saw Zack rushing towards her.

She had barely taken a step before she fell into his arms, her body shaking uncontrollably.

**t.b.c.**

* * *

A/N: Hey there, I'm craving your reviews here! Please let me know what you think of this so far. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you all for all your wonderful support in reading and reviewing this!

**HoneyX5-452** – Thanks for reviewing both chapters! Hehe! You're so obviously a MZ fan! Glad you liked it so far.

**X5898** – Thanks for reviewing. Hehe! I liked that line too (if I may say so!). It's basically there to show that however much Zack may follow rules, he would still try to keep Max's approval whenever he could. Glad you liked the non-bitchy Max. I don't think I can go though with the pain of the way she treated Zack in S1, LOL!

**Wildsky** – (Blushes) I'm glad you're enjoying the way I wrote Max and Zack. The first two chapters kind of set the tone of their relationship and now we'll get a glimpse of the main plot. Thanks for reviewing!

**Blissfully-jaded73** – Thanks for your review. I'm glad you like it so far. Main plot kicking in soon, so keep on reading!

**L80bug** – Hey, nice to see you here! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter and thanks for reviewing.

**Angelofdarkness78 **– You're meant to read and savor the words, not skim, lol! Kidding! I know what you mean. I do the same too, hehe! I'm glad you think that they're in character. I think that's the hardest bit to write! Hmm, maybe updating too soon is not good; I don't want to interrupt your homework (grins). Thanks for reviewing.

**X52-599** – Thanks for your review. Glad you liked the story. Hehe! I'll keep your offer in mind and if I get stuck, I'll be sure to beg you for help!

**Roxyroo **– Yeah, I'm trying to be impartial about the MA vs MZ thing, but look at what I normally write and you can tell which pair I ship, lol! Thanks for reading and reviewing this! I appreciate the support!

* * *

**Rules Can be Broken - Chapter 3**

(by elle6778)

Zack rushed towards Max, catching her just in the nick of time before she hit the ground. Holding her securely, he carried her to the door, kicked it open, and brought her inside the cold, dark cabin.

Falling to his knees onto the dust-covered wooden floor, his breath caught in his throat as her shaking intensified. He called out urgently, "Max! MAX! Wake up!"

But caught up in the throes of her seizure, she did not answer. Her eyes were shut and her entire body was tense as she spasmed continuously. Zack forced himself to remain calm, knowing that he needed a cool head to think of a way to help her.

Then he remembered the bottle of Tryptophan he had grabbed earlier. Cradling her convulsing body with one arm, his other arm went to rummage blindly within his rucksack.

When his fingers found the bottle of Tryptophan, he pulled it out and yanked off the cap with his teeth. Trying to keep his fingers steady, he shook out two pills and slid them between Max's lips.

"Come on, Max. Take it," he urged as he tried to force them past her clenched teeth. When she did not respond, he snapped harshly, "Pull yourself together! This is an order, soldier!"

It seemed to have the desired effect as Max suddenly blinked. "Zack?" she mumbled blearily.

Zack pushed the pills into her mouth. At her questioning look, he explained, "Tryptophan."

Max swallowed and leaned back against him, closing her eyes again. Zack noted with relief that as her system began to digest the medication, the intensity of her seizures gradually reduced.

It took another fifteen minutes before her convulsions ceased and that was when Zack finally allowed himself to breath normally.

He lifted her up and carried her across the room to a dusty couch.

"Lie here and don't move. I'll go get a fire started," he said, lowering her carefully.

Max nodded listlessly and shut her eyes, breathing evenly.

When he went back to her fifteen minutes later, a small fire was dancing in the fireplace, bringing warmth to the room. Max had already fallen asleep. _She seemed to look a bit better_, he thought with relief as he noted the colour in her cheeks. He felt almost bad that he had to wake her, but it was necessary.

Laying his hand on her shoulders, he shook her lightly. "Max, wake up. We're not done yet."

"Huh?" she mumbled as she blinked in confusion.

He could not keep the look of worry from seeping into his expression when he noted how lack-lustre her responses were. She seemed so out of it. Holding up a gleaming knife, he said, "Your wound needs to be cauterised."

Max groaned as she sat up reluctantly, swaying slightly. She clutched the side of the couch to steady herself. "Fine. Let's get this over with."

Schooling his face so that his embarrassment did not show, he gestured to her pants and said briskly, "You've got to get that off or we'd have to cut through it."

Max's eyes widened as she realised what he meant. Then she said dully, "Seeing that this is the only pair that I have now, I don't seem to have much of a choice."

Zack did not comment. Pulling the paper with the ad out of his rucksack, he rolled it up and gave it to her. "You might want something to bite on when I do it."

Wordlessly, Max nodded as she took the proffered item and set it down beside her.

Zack averted his gaze when her hands went to her waist, uncomfortable at the thought of seeing Max partially clothed. He decided to keep himself occupied by going to the fireplace to hold the blade of the knife in the flames.

He was confused by his reaction. It was not as if he had not seen her in fewer clothes before. Manticore had been pretty much an equal opportunity, sexless organisation. All of them had shared showers for years. _But she's an adult now. She has a body of an adult, not a nine-year-old_, a voice in his head told him.

As if he needed to be told.

Her voice shook him out of his internal conversation. "Well, I'm ready," she said quietly, but strangely did not seem as flustered as he was. Zack decided that the medication must have numbed her inhibitions slightly.

Or maybe she thought that there was nothing for her to be bothered about. Somehow that thought did not sit too well with him.

Zack stared at red-hot blade of the knife for a moment, and then went back to Max who was sitting at the edge of the couch. His eyes went to her left thigh, where a jagged bloody hole had been torn in it. He forced himself not to notice the black lacy thing she had on.

The black lacy thing which did not cover much.

Disgusted with himself for having thoughts equivalent to those of a hormonal teenager, he clenched his hand harder around the knife and knelt down in front of her, determined to keep his mind on the task ahead. He knew that he had nothing to give her to numb the pain and it was going hurt.

Trying to keep the remorse from his voice, he said flatly, "This is going to hurt."

"Go ahead," she said, taking a deep breath and bit on the roll of paper.

Hardening himself, he quickly brought the knife down. A searing sound could be heard as her flesh hissed and burned. Max shut her eyes and groaned but did not pull away.

When Zack withdrew the knife, he could hear her expel a relieved breath as the paper fell from her mouth. Glad that it was finally over, he ripped one of his clean shirts into strips and wrapped it around her thighs.

He was still trying very hard not to notice that black lacy thing she was wearing or what it covered. If he continued that way, he would probably end up embarrassing himself. _Snap out of it, soldier,_ he berated himself. It annoyed him that his mind refused to obey his orders.

When he finished, he noticed that she had already fallen asleep. He pushed her down into a lying position on the couch and draped his jacket over her exposed legs.

As the events of the night caught up with him, exhaustion overtook him and he allowed himself to lean back against the couch. The sound of Max's breathing finally lulled him to sleep.

* * *

Lydecker was pacing back and forth across the length of the empty warehousethat they had decided to use as a temporary base.

"Tell me again, how did they manage to get into the building and later escape fully intact? Considering that there are nine of you to only two of them?" he bit out harshly as he raised a questioning brow at the squad leader standing at attention in front of him.

"Sir, we have no idea how they got in. None of us saw anything. But when they left the building, we did try to go after them. But then we lost them," the soldier said nervously.

"Did you even manage to note down which direction they were heading to?" Lydecker asked, trying hard to keep a rein on his temper.

The soldier nodded almost eagerly, "They were headed south, sir."

"So what are you waiting for now?" Lydecker snapped.

Not understanding what Lydecker meant, the unfortunate soldier asked gingerly, "Sir?"

"I can't believe this," Lydecker muttered under his breath. Then glaring at the soldier, he barked, "Head south and track them down. Do not, I repeat,_do not_kill them. I want them alive."

"Yes, sir," the soldier replied quickly.

"Dismissed," Lydecker snapped.

As the soldier left the warehouse, Lydecker shook his head, muttering under his breath, "I'm surrounded by idiots."

He stopped pacing and began to run through the plans in his head. Although theydid not manage to succeed this time, Lydecker was not overly worried.

He had not spent all these years searching for his kids without coming up with a few alternative plans. Pleased that one of those plans could be utilised now, he smiled. Taking out his cell phone from his pocket, he dialled a familiar number.

"Sandoval. Lydecker here.Proceed with Plan C. The mission file is on my desk, labelled C-206."

* * *

The sun was high in the sky when Max cracked open her eyes. Blinking blearily, she sat up, wondering where she was.

Then she remembered.

She flushed with embarrassment when she realised that she was sitting there practically naked from waist down with only Zack's jacket to cover her. _Ah well, it's not as if he haven't seen it all,_ she reasoned, thinking back to their Manticore days. Anyway, he did not seem too bothered when he was tending to her wound last night, not that she recalled that much considering she had felt pretty zoned out most of the night. Only parts of it remained in her mind. Max rolled her eyes as she remembered the efficient manner he had approached the issue of her removing her pants. Zack probably had not even noticed that she had not been a nine-year old kid for a long time now.

Scanning the room, she spotted Zack. He was curled up on the floor in front of the couch. A smile curved her lips as she recalled how he took care of her in his usual brisk manner. She had no doubt that he cared for her but his actions last night reinforced it.

Considering the hectic night they had, she had not really had the chance to see study how he had changed in the last decade since she had last seen him. Manticore had done a good job on him, she thought, her mind quoting the words Zack had said to her just last night. Her eyes traced over his strong features, lingering on his stubborn jaw and his full bow-shaped lips. She would bet that those lips had rendered many females breathless.

Her breath caught.

_Whoa, Max! Don't even THINK of him that way_, she admonished herself, quickly tearing her eyes away, just in case her mind decided to come up with more disconcerting thoughts about Zack.

She must have made a sound or something because Zack suddenly moved, dragging her attention back to him. Instantly alert the way only a highly trained transgenic could be, he snapped his blue eyes open and fixed his gaze on her.

"So how are you feeling?" he asked by the way of greeting.

Slightly taken aback at his expressionless tone, Max did not answer for a while. Then she realised that Zack being Zack was still following the rules. With the phenomenal memory power bestowed on her by Manticore, she could even remember exactly when they had been taught one particular lesson.

They had been sitting facing the front of the room, their hands on the table exactly at ninety degrees from their body. The instructor was pointing to the board as he rapped out one after another rule which they had to learn.

"_Rule E.21: Emotions. Emotions will cloud judgement and reduce the ability to form an educated and impartial assessment, leading to higher probability of mission failure. Any signs of emotion will not be tolerated. You are soldiers, and emotions have no place in your lives."_

Max sighed. It would seem that Zack had taken that rule to heart. Outwardly, anyway.

Zack's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Max! I asked you if you're alright?"

His face came into focus. Still expressionless, she thought with a grimace. She waved her hands in a dismissive gesture and said, "I'm fine. Slept well?"

"It's okay. Floor's a bit hard, I have to say," he said, getting off the floor and brushing the dust off himself.

The sound of a series of beeps caught her attention. It came from her jacket. Dragging it off the back of the couch, she pulled out her pager, wondering who it was. Recognising the number on display, she frowned slightly. "Damn. I've got to get to a phone."

"Why? Who's that?" Zack demanded to know as he walked away to the fire, checking if there were still any burning embers.

Pushing herself off the couch, Max stood up and stretched. "It's Logan."

"Who's Logan?" Zack asked with a frown, turning to her. "Max, could you put something on?" he snapped, quickly looking away, hence not catching the surprised expression on Max's face.

_So he was not quite unaffected as he seemed_, she thought in amusement. Swallowing the urge to tease him about it, she quickly put on her trousers, making a face at the patch of dried blood. "It's one of my favourites too," she muttered under her breath as she walked to the bathroom.

Grimacing at the dilapidated state of the bathroom, she proceeded to try to remove the bloodstain. Then remembering the question Zack had asked her, she yelled over her shoulders, "Logan's a guy who had been helping me find you all. And in turn, I help him with stuff. Quid-pro-quo, he called it."

"Another Vogelsang?" he exclaimed. "What's the matter with you, Max? Don't you realise that this sort of exposure could compromise your security?" he asked in a hard tone, his expression disbelieving.

Max stiffened at his words. Slowly, she turned around and walked towards him. "What security? The guy already knew about Manticore even before I turned up. The minute he saw my barcode, he knew what I was," she defended herself.

"Your barcode was exposed?" Zack asked, incredulous.

Max rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I kind of thought that it works as a fashion statement," she said as crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him defiantly.

"Max, this is not a laughing matter. What do I have to say to make you understand?" Zack said, exasperated.

"Okay, okay. It wasn't exposed, alright? He saw it by accident," Max explained.

Zack frowned at her. "And how did that happen?"

His reaction was beginning to rile her. It was not as if normal people knew what the barcode stood for. Logan's case had been different because he was Eyes-Only. Taking a calming breath, she said, "Look, he already knows. So what's the big deal?"

"What do you mean? It's not a big deal? You're risking yourself, Max. The way you carry on, you might as well hand yourself back to Manticore on a platter," Zack shouted in anger.

"Well, nothing had happened in the last decade, so would you please just stop being so paranoid?"

"I'm not being paranoid. The incident yesterday with Lydecker should have told you something. Don't you get it, Max? You can't afford to trust anyone with your identity. People have weaknesses, and Manticore knows how to exploit these weaknesses. Who says this Logan would not give you up to Lydecker if he was threatened?" Zack challenged.

"He won't," she replied confidently. Why must Zack be so picky about everything she did and who she trusted? She had to trust someone; she just could not go around suspecting everyone she met of having bad inclinations towards her.

"Max, you don't know that."

_I give up_, she thought. Sighing wearily, Max said, "We're going nowhere with this conversation. So why don't we just cut it short. Anyway, I need to find a phone to call Logan."

Zack laid a restraining hand on her arm. When she looked back at him inquiringly, he pulled out a cellphone from his jacket and handed it to her. "Here. Use this," he said grudgingly.

Max stared at the phone in his hand in surprise. Then she grinned cheekily and said, "Gee, I'm surprised you actually own one of this. I thought it would be considered a security risk."

Smirking, Zack retorted smugly, "It's untraceable. You don't really think I would expose myself that way, do you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" she said with a grin, and then proceeded to dial Logan's number.

When Logan answered the phone, she greeted, "Max here hitting you back."

She listened as he spoke, her frown growing by the second. Then she said, "Are you sure, Logan? Where did this happen?"

A minute later, she said, "Alright, I'm on to it," and hung up the phone. Before Zack could ask her anything, she said, "Logan said that one of his contacts called. A male in his early twenties had been admitted to Harbour Lights hospital. Apparently a woman was taking out her garbage when she found him unconscious next to her dumpster, bleeding all over."

Zack stared at her in bewilderment. Gesturing to the phone, he said, "This is part of your quid-pro-quo? Helping people who were beaten up and left to rot next to a dumpster?"

Max took a deep breath. "Zack, his contact said that the male's only distinguishing mark is a barcode tattoo at the back of his neck."

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: Yep…Main plot coming up! So what do you think of this chapter? Please review and let me know. I need the encouragement!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you all for all your wonderful support in reading and reviewing this! Oh, by the way, I'm going on a holiday soon, so I won't be able to update until the 27th Oct or so.

**BlueAngel137** – I'm glad that you find the plot intriguing. As it's meant to be an action/adventure fic, I hope that there would be enough of it to keep you on your toes (grins). Thanks for reviewing!

**Calistra **– Thanks for your review. Hehe, you know I can't really confirm whether or not you have guessed correctly. It'll be no more fun for you to read, otherwise.

**X5898** – Heh! I can see the wheels in your mind churning out all sorts of theories, and I'm sure you'll hit on the actual one at some point as usual. (Grins) But I can't tell you which one! You'll have to read till the end, this way I could keep you hostage to the story (laughs wickedly!). I'm glad that the MZ interaction had lived up to expectations and had kept you amused. Hopefully you'll find the same in this chapter! Thanks for reviewing.

**HoneyX5-452** – Thanks for reviewing. Glad you liked the MZ action. And you might have your wish after all. By the way, have you been updating your X5 in San Francisco and Betrayal?

**Roxyroo **– Yippee! I'm so glad that you're still here! You might get what you want in this chapter, in some ways. Thanks for reviewing!

**Copper241** – Thanks for reviewing. Ah, yes…(smiles sheepishly) the next tv episode isn't going to happen here, unfortunately. I've taken this at the end of '411' and pushed it off on a tangent. It now has a new plot and a new direction. Hope that's okay with you.

**Kay **– Don't worry about logging in, I know how it feels, lol! I'm just happy that you reviewed. So thanks!

**Angelofdarkness78 **– Thanks for reviewing. Yeah, poor Zack's suddenly beginning to realise that he's having 'inappropriate' thoughts involving Max. Hehe! The barcode dude being Ben's work? You'll see soon who it is. But just keep an open mind, alright? Although I wished there were more reviews, I'm actually having lots of fun writing this. It's quite challenging and different from what I normally write.

**Too lazy to log in** – I hope you know who you are when you read this, lol! Thanks for reviewing and yes, here's the update. Hope you enjoy it.

**Yashida** – Hey there, thanks for reviewing! Glad you find it interesting. As for the plot, read on and you'll see where it's heading (hopefully!).

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 4**

(by elle6778)

_Max took a deep breath. "Zack, his contact said that the male's only distinguishing mark is a barcode tattoo at the back of his neck."_

Zack jumped up abruptly from the sofa as he heard Max's words. The words _'barcode tattoo'_ rang repeatedly in his ears.

_Who could it be? None of them should be in Seattle right now,_ he thought frantically. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to remain calm as he cast his mind back to see if any of them had told him anything about being in Seattle. His search came up blank.

Then it hit him.

He groaned when he realised what must have happened. Max's barcode had been in the papers for anyone to see for the last one week. One of them must have seen it and had decided to come to Seattle. In which case it was hardly surprising that he had not known about it. Max was not the only one who had expressed a desire to reunite with her siblings. The rest of them had indicated at some point or another that they thought that Zack was being unreasonable about keeping them apart.

Now the question was, who could it be? The only three who would so blatantly disregard his orders were Ben, Krit or Zane. Whichever one he was, how the hell did he manage to get himself so beaten up that he had ended up in a hospital? No ordinary human could have done it. Maybe Lydecker had found him first and had tried to take him down. But how did Lydecker know who he was?

The questions continued to race through his mind, but he was not any closer to the answers. He decided that there was only one thing he could do.

Dreading her response, he turned to Max and said, "I'm going to go get him."

"I'll come with you," she said, as he expected.

Frowning, he shook his head and held out a restraining hand. "No, Max. You're injured. Just stay here until we get back, alright?" he ordered, hoping that for once, she would listen to him.

Fat chance of that happening.

Max put her hands on her hips and glared at him defiantly. "Oh, and let you have all the fun? Come on, Zack. You don't really expect me to just sit here quietly, do you?"

"Yes, I do! Bringing you along would be a liability, considering that you're not exactly in top condition right now. You've been shot and had just gone through a seizure. In the state you're in, you would run a higher risk of being caught," Zack insisted firmly, irritated that he had to waste his time explaining all these to her. Why did she find it so hard to obey a simple order? She definitely had not been this stubborn when they had been in Manticore years ago.

Rolling her eyes, Max pointed out, "I've been through worse when I had my seizure. Remember our escape? I had seizures back then as well. And I survived, didn't I? So let's stop wasting time yakking and let's go get him."

"I'm serious, Max. You're not going," Zack said resolutely.

Max looked thoughtful for a moment. Then smiling sweetly at him, Max said, "Well, you can say what you like but I'm definitely going. But you can always try to stop me."

Zack narrowed his eyes. "That sounded like a challenge, Max."

She grinned. "Did it?"

Zack scowled. There was only one thing he could do to stop her from going with him. He would hate himself for it afterwards, but it was for her own safety.

Also, it was not a good idea for her to meet with another one of their unit. It had been simpler when they were in Manticore, where his position as a CO dictated that they listen to him. But now, trying to get them to listen was always a struggle. He could deal with them on a one on one basis, but if they decided to gang up on him, he would lose all authority.

Hardening himself for what he was about to do, he stepped closer to her. "I'm sorry, Max. You've left me no choice," he said regretfully.

In a fraction of a second, Zack blurred smoothly behind her and wrapped his arms around her neck. In shock, she did not have time to protest before he applied a firm pressure, cutting off her air supply. She struggled, but he was much stronger.

When she felt limp in his arm, he quickly loosened his hold and lifted her onto the couch. Remorsefully, his fingers reached out to touch her neck, which was red from the pressure he had applied. Clamping down on his overwhelming feeling of regret, he told himself that he had no choice. She would be safer here. He deliberated for a moment if he should bind her, but then decided against it. Binding her would leave her too vulnerable.

Going around the room, he picked up his rucksack and his jacket. At the door, he turned to look over his shoulders at her unconscious form, hoping that she would forgive him for what he had just done.

* * *

As the rumbling sound of Zack's bike faded, Max snapped open her eyes and sat up.

From the look on his face, she had known that he had no intention of letting her follow him no matter what she said. Gingerly, she touched her neck, wincing it its soreness. She had half expected Zack to do something when she taunted him, but he had managed to surprise her when he tried to cut off her air supply.

She had pretended to collapse when he had held her in a chokehold. It had not been too difficult. Zack had released her too soon. He had obviously forgotten how good she had always been in the tank, she thought with a grin.

Pushing herself off the couch, she ran to the door and yanked it open, heading for her bike.

_Zack was going to get some back-up whether or not he liked it_, she thought smugly as she mounted her bike.

* * *

Zack could not shake away the feeling that he had forgotten something important. But as hard as he forced himself to think of what it might be, it still managed to elude him.

He shook his head slightly, determined to keep his focus on something more tangible. Like saving the transgenic in the hospital he had been watching for the last half hour. So far, he had seen no signs of Lydecker or anything untoward.

Casually, he straightened and walked towards the front door.

At the reception desk, he stood waiting as the harried looking receptionist spoke rapidly into the phone. When she finally looked up at him, he smiled. "Hi, I'm here to see my brother. Someone called me to say that he had been found in an alleyway?"

Returning his smile, she said, "Yes. I remember that one. He was pretty badly beaten up, poor soul. Go down the hallway on your left and it's the third room on the right. And oh, I understand that you probably want to see him right now, but you need to come back here later to fill in his forms."

Zack nodded his thanks and went in the direction she pointed him, all the while glancing surreptitiously around him to check if anything or anyone was out of place. _So far, so good_, he thought.

Pausing at the door to the third room on his right, Zack took a last look around the hallway before he twisted the knob and threw the door open without stepping in. When he scanned the room, he noted with relief that it did not look like a set-up and that the only person in there was the patient.

As Zack walked closer to the bed, his eyes confirmed the identity of the heavily bandaged man on the bed. His short blonde hair was in disarray against the pillow and his eyes were screwed shut, hiding the blue orbs from view.

"Zane, what the hell happened to you?" Zack muttered under his breath as he eyed the bandages around Zane's head, midsection and his right thigh.

At his words, Zane's eyes opened, flicking around wildly until he spotted Zack. Then he frowned. "Who are you?" he croaked.

Zack stiffened in shock. "What do you mean, Zane?" he asked warily, involuntarily taking a step back towards the door. He was confused. _That was Zane, wasn't he?_

Zane blinked rapidly. "Zane? Who's Zane and who are you?"

As his eyes zoomed in on the bandage around Zane's head, realisation slowly dawned. Zane must have hit his head quite hard to get this sort of memory loss. He hoped that it was not permanent. Better to check if he was really Zane, anyway.

"Turn over and show me the back of your neck," he ordered.

Zane's eyes widened. "Man, what the hell do you want that for? No way!"

Zack expelled an exasperated sigh. _It had to be Zane,_ he thought. Even with his memory loss, he still retained his annoying character. "Turn around and I'll explain afterwards."

Grumbling under his breath, Zane rolled onto his left shoulder, wincing as he did so, and showed Zack the barcode at the back of his neck.

Zack noted with satisfaction that it was definitely Zane lying there. Stepping closer to him, Zack put his arms around Zane and tried to hoist him up into a sitting position.

"Ow, stop that. It freaking hurts," Zane protested, frowning.

Zack compressed his lips into a tight line. "Stop whining and start behaving like a soldier, would you?"

"Soldier?" he asked, agape.

"That knock on your head must have wiped out your memory. You're a soldier. I'm Zack, your Commanding Officer. I'll tell you everything you want to know later. Right now we've got to get you out of here before whoever that did this comes back to finish the job," Zack explained impatiently.

"Who did this to me?"

"My guess would be Manticore," Zack replied grimly as he tried to urge an uncooperative Zane off the bed.

Eyeing Zack suspiciously, Zane leaned away from him and asked, "How do I know you're telling the truth? For all I know, you could be the one after me."

Pausing mid-tug, Zack gave him an incredulous look. This was really a bad time for his Manticore-trained wariness to kick in. "You can't be serious. We have no time for this now. Now get your ass off the bed, soldier," Zack ordered irritably. For all he knew, Lydecker and his goons were on their way there now.

As soon as that thought entered his mind, Zack sensitive hearing picked up the sounds of heavy vehicles pulling to a stop outside the hospital. Rushing to the window and looking out, he saw a team of black-clad soldiers pouring out of three unmarked vehicles.

"Great," he muttered under his breath. Turning towards Zane, he threatened, "They're here now. If you don't want to be captured by Manticore, I suggest that you start trusting me. Or I'm leaving you here for them."

The seriousness of his tone must have convinced Zane of his sincerity, because without another word, Zane pushed himself off the bed gingerly, wincing as he did so. Zack allowed himself a small breath of relief. One hurdle passed and about a hundred more to go. Now he had to think of a way to get them out of the hospital without being detected.

The door suddenly burst open, prompting Zack to blur ahead into a fight stance between the door and Zane. When he noticed the person who entered, his stance relaxed but his face drew into a scowl.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here, Max?" he snapped. As if one was not enough, now he had to keep an eyes on two injured transgenic. And how did she manage to wake up so soon? He had thought that she would be out for at least an hour or two.

_And what was she doing dressed up as a nurse_, he wondered in annoyance as his eyes travelled down her bare legs out of their own volition. _Very shapely, very bare legs._ Then realising what he was thinking, he forcibly snapped his eyes back up to glare at her.

Max raised an insolent eyebrow and smirked at him. "I'm here to cover your ass, Zack," she said, wheeling a gurney in.

"How did you manage to get here so soon?" he asked, curious.

Max waved her hands dismissively. "Don't you remember, Zack? I was the best of our unit in the tank."

Zack groaned. So that was what he had forgotten earlier.

Turning her attention to Zane for the first time, Max's expression became emotional as she asked softly, "So, which one are you?"

Zane gave her a look filled with male interest, his eyes running up and down her body in a thorough appraisal, much to Zack's disgust. Before Zane could say anything, Zack said tersely, "This is Zane. Unfortunately, he can't seem to remember who he is."

Max's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and then she said slowly, "Okay…this is not exactly how I imagined our reunion."

Turning to Zane, Zack said meaningfully, "This is Max, one of your _siblings_."

Zane gave him a sceptical look. He did not say anything out loud but his expression said it all; _Yeah, right_. He was obviously not convinced that Max and him were related. Which was understandable seeing how different they looked compared to each other.

Max grinned as she caught Zane's expression.

Zack's eyes narrowed as Zane returned her grin.

* * *

Max was glad that she came. Zack definite looked as if he needed help, whether or not he wanted to admit it.

When she had slipped in earlier, not too far behind Zack, she had gone straight to the nurses' quarters, knowing that some form of disguise was necessary for them to execute an escape.

She had been nervous and excited at the same time at the thought of seeing one of her brothers. When she saw Zane for the first time, she could not believe how much he had changed. Whilst he had the same colouring as Zack, Zane's features appeared less formidable and more approachable.

She had seen the assessing look he had given her, but did not think much of it. He was probably just as curious about her as she was about him. She had also noticed Zack's reaction, and for some reason, it pleased her that Zack appeared to think that she needed protection from Zane.

Then remembering the situation they were in, she gestured to the gurney and said, "Well, hop on, guys. We've got to get out of here. Lydecker's men are already here."

She rolled the gurney closer to the bed.

With Zack's help, Zane laid himself onto the bottom part of the gurney. Zack went on the higher platform. Max covered Zack completely with a large light green sheet, letting the edges of the cloth fall around the gurney to hide Zane from view as well.

A second later, she wheeled them out of the room.

Just as she turned around the corner, she heard the rapid approach of heavy footsteps, heading towards the room they had just vacated. _That was a close call,_ she thought, her heart beating faster.

Stabbing a finger at the outline of Zack's shoulder, she whispered down to him, "Aren't you glad that I'm here?"

A snort came from under the covers before she heard Zack reply, "Don't speak so soon, Max. We're not exactly safe yet."

Max rolled her eyes at his pessimism and continued to push the gurney until they reached the rear fire exit which led to a back alley.

Hoping that Lydecker had not posted any guards there, Max whipped the sheets off Zack and gestured to the door.

"I'm not sure if Lydecker's got this exit covered, but this is the only way out I could think of," she said to him as he got up and pulled Zane to his feet.

Zack frowned his disapproval at her. "You didn't do a recon before you brought us here?"

Max stared at him disbelievingly. "And when was I supposed find time to do that, huh? Between dressing up as a nurse and finding an empty gurney in an extremely busy hospital?" she retorted.

"Do you guys argue like this all the time?" Zane asked, switching his gaze back and forth between them.

"No!" They said simultaneously, and then exchanged an uncomfortable look.

"Oh, whatever! Let's get this bitch over with," Max finally said. Watching the two males behind her, she said, "Ready?"

At their nod, she turned around and pushed the door open.

She could hardly believe their luck when she saw what was in front of them.

"Oh, great!" she muttered.

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: Please feed me reviews! I crave them, really, lol. Tell me what you think of this chapter and what's the deal with Zane. I would love to know your thoughts on this.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update. I had just gotten back from holidays not long ago and had been trying my best to write since then. So this chapter is slightly shorter than usual, but I hope you all enjoy it. Promise you I'll make up for it in the next chapter.

**Calistra** – Thanks for reviewing. Yeah, that was a sarcastic cliffie, lol!

**Doza** – Thanks for reviewing and reading this. The characters in this story is a bit harder than my usual ones, perhaps because I'm not too confident with Zack. So I'm happy that you like it.

**Angelofdarkness78 **– Logan? Why would I do that? LOL! As for Zane, I would keep my options open if I were you (winks). I'm glad that you've updated LCBFAEIH. I'll read it after I upload this. Thanks for reviewing.

**X5898 **– Glad you're enjoying it, hehe! Zack's having the usual X5 case of denial, lol! He couldn't help it. It's written in his genes. Zack's so frustrated that he could not seem to keep his siblings in control anymore, but I guess he would have to live with it because I doubt that any of them will just follow his instructions unquestioningly nowadays (grins). Thanks for reviewing.

**HoneyX5-452** – Hehe, yep, Zack's getting jealous of the attention Zane was paying Max. I modeled Zane out of some amateur model who looked like Zack, but feel free to imagine him as your model, lol! Thanks for reviewing.

**Roxyroo **– Thanks for reviewing. Hehe, sorry, but you're right to be confused. Believe me there's a reason for it. And all will be revealed at the end of the story (winks). Ah, Alec…Once I finish this, I'm hoping to start another Alecky story. I think I'm suffering from Alec-withdrawal.

**Wildsky** – Glad you liked the twist of the memory loss (grins). Convert? Hmm…I'm a MA shipper too and the rest of my fics are MA, so I don't know if I should encourage you to convert or not, lol! Thanks for your review.

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 5**

(by elle6778)

Zack stiffened as he heard Max's exclamation. In reflex, his alertness level shot up. Then he only saw a sudden blur which was Max before he heard a loud thump and a groan of pain, confirming the fact that there were enemies present.

_Lydecker_, he thought in distaste before he yelled at Zane to stay put. He did not look back to check if Zane had listened before he rushed forwards, aiming for one of the two soldiers in front of Max.

Leaping high, he extended a kick which swept the gun out of the soldiers grip. As the gun clattered to the floor, he swivelled around to find Max launching a series of punches and kicks at her opponent's, knocking the wind out of him. Zack grabbed the fallen gun and smashed the butt of the gun against the side of his opponent's head, rendering him unconscious.

When Max turned to face him, he grinned and gave her a mock salute. "Not bad," he said, thinking that she had definitely retained what Manticore had thought them in their childhood years when it came to fighting.

Too bad she forgot the discipline and tactical part of the lessons, he thought wryly.

Max returned his grin, completely oblivious to what he was thinking. "What can I say? Girls kick ass," she said sweetly.

Zack just snorted.

"So, what was that all about?" Zane asked, appearing out of the doorway. He looked shocked at what he had just seen. "Where did you learn to fight that way?"

Zack exchanged a look with Max before he addressed Zane, "We all could fight like that. You just don't remember now. It'll come back to you, I'm sure." It was worrying that Zane had no recollection of his past, Zack thought. The way things were going, with Lydecker on their tracks, it was not safe for Zane to remain that way.

Zane gave him a sceptical look. "Yeah, right." Then shrugging in resignation, he muttered, "Ah well, at least we're safe now. No more of them, right?"

As if in response to his words, four more soldiers came running at them, armed with guns.

Zack cursed as he readied himself for attack.

Throwing a quick glance at Zane, he shouted, "Stay back, Zane."

"But…" Zane started as his eyes darted to the four soldiers advancing towards them.

Zack interrupted impatiently. "That's an order, soldier," he barked out, and then transferred his attention to Max. He held up his hands to Max, relaying a message to her using a series of hand signals.

Max nodded in acknowledgement.

Blurring in a zig-zag pattern, Zack and Max headed for the soldiers. In unison, both of them flipped over, landing behind the surprised soldiers. Launching himself off the ground again, he spun around, delivering a spinning kick which threw two of them to the ground.

Without giving them time to recover, he knocked them out using his well-placed, booted foot. Satisfied that they would not be moving anytime soon, he turned to Max.

Max's opponent was down, lying on the ground unconscious and her attention was riveted to the last soldier who was approaching Zane. Zack noticed that he was still armed with a gun.

She blurred towards them, placing herself between Zane and the soldier who was trying to aim the gun. All of them knew that the gun was useless as a shooting weapon while it was in such close proximity to its target, but the soldier seemed to have realised a better use for it.

Zack was about to rush to her rescue when he saw the soldier jamming his gun in Max's ribs. The dull thud of metal hitting flesh interspersed with her gasp as she doubled over. But a second later, Max straightened and managed to capture the soldier in a choke hold. The soldier slumped unconscious as she tightened her grip and she released him from her grip. She gave Zack the thumbs up, reassuring him that she was alright.

Zane was standing frozen to his spot, an unreadable expression on his face as he looked at Max.

"What?" Max asked, turning towards him as she rubbed her ribs gingerly.

"I… Nothing." Then sweeping his eyes up and down Max's small form, Zane asked, "Are you okay? You were hit."

Brushing away his concern with a wave of her hands, Max said lightly, "Nothing I couldn't handle."

Zack stepped up to them, also searching Max for signs of injury. He had noticed the way Zane looked at Max with concern and discovered that he did not like the way the other transgenic's eyes lingered. What was Zane doing looking at his own _sister_ like that?

_Zane's not doing much more than you are, Zack. You were looking at her that way too. And Max was just as much a sister to you as she was to Zane,_ a small voice inside told him. Zack frowned. He decided that the voice was being unfair. Max had been half-naked when he had tried valiantly not to look. That had been different from what Zane had just done.

_Was it?_

Trying to ignore the voice which taunted him, Zack said, "You've just had a seizure last night. You really shouldn't be fighting around like this, Max."

Max scowled. "And how were you guys planning to get out of there in one piece seeing that Zane can't fight in his state? Admit it, Zack. Me being here actually helped."

Zack let out an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, I know. But it could have ended up very differently. You could have been really hurt."

"But I didn't," Max pointed out.

"I would have gotten Zane out of here by myself anyway," Zack insisted heatedly. Max just refused to believe that what he was telling her was for her own safety.

Max raised her eyebrows, a disbelieving look on her face. "Oh, yeah? How? Zane's injured just in case you didn't notice," she challenged.

"Hey, guys!" Zane butted in, obviously tired of being ignored. He waited until he had their attention. "I'm still here, you know. And anyway, I think Max's right. No offence to your skills, but there're too many of them for you to take down by yourself," He moved to stand closer to Max, facing Zack.

Zack's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly as he took in Zane's protective stance beside Max. Irate thoughts began to race though his mind. _What the hell did that mean? Zane standing against me for Max? That ungrateful brat!_

Biting back the urge to tell Zane to shove off, he said stiffly, "Time to go. Lydecker will probably be here any second. My bike's over to the west of the hospital. Where's yours?" He looked at Max questioningly.

Max opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but then she changed her mind. Gesturing to one of the alleyways off the road they were in, she said, "Stashed it over there under some old boxes."

As Zack digested the information, he felt torn. Logic and tactical sense dictated that Max should take Zane on her bike since it was nearer, but something inside him balked at the idea. That something inside him told him that it would be a mistake to let Zane go with Max. Instincts, maybe. But he did not understand why. He had always liked and trusted Zane, so why should he feel any different now?

Zack did not know why. Maybe it was because of Zane's memory loss. Maybe with the memory loss, he was not the same person and therefore he might harm Max. But judging from Zane's apparent protectiveness of Max, Zack doubted that he would harm her.

Maybe he just did not want Zane anywhere near Max. But why the hell not?

_Because Zane poses a threat,_ that annoying voice in his head piped up.

"Zack?" Max's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

He needed to make a decision, and he knew what he had to say. This was no time to break the rules and listen to some illogical voice in his head. Pinning his eyes on Max, he said, "Take Zane with you. We're heading back to the cabin. I'll be not too far behind. Remember to stay low and don't attract any attention."

Max gave him a droll look.

Ignoring the expression on her face, he picked up a gun from the ground and handed it to Zane. "Do you remember how to use this?" he asked.

Zane reached out and took the weapon, handling it as if he had been born with a gun in his hand. "Yeah," he said, checking the gun for ammunition. Then he strapped it over his shoulders. "It's all set to go."

Zack was surprised that Zane actually remembered how to use a gun and yet have no recollection that he could fight. But outwardly Zack just nodded and said, "Good. Now, let's move out."

"Later, Zack," Max threw over her shoulders as she headed towards the alley, Zane following close behind.

Zack watched them for a moment before he went in the opposite direction, heading for his bike.

As he walked, the question in his head before Max interrupted his thoughts came back to haunt him.

_If he did not think that Zane would hurt Max, then why was he feeling threatened? _

* * *

Max wondered what Zack had been thinking about when she interrupted him. She had noticed that he had looked worried. But considering the situation they were in, she supposed that it was natural for him to be that way. Zack had always felt responsible for them, whether or not there had been a need for it. She supposed that was one of the things which made them look up to him so much.

All these years she had been searching for them and now, in just two days, she had found _two _of them. She thought that it was a shame that Zane had his memories knocked out of him. It would be nice to be able to talk to him about what he had been doing all these years. She guessed that she could ask Zack but she was not too sure that he would answer. He seemed hell-bent of keeping them apart and knowing as little as possible about each other.

As they approached her bike, Zane whistled. "That's what I call sleek," he said, eyeing her bike greedily as she uncovered it from under the cardboard boxes.

Max turned to him. When she saw the look in his eyes, she placed her hand on her hips and said levelly, "Let's get one thing straight, okay? I'm driving. Me. Not you," There was no way she would allow him handle her baby. Long lost brother or not.

Zane raised his eyebrows as he looked down at the exposed expanse of her legs in the nurse's uniform. Grinning, he said, "Max, I'm not sure it would be a good idea for you to ride in front like that."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "Oh come on, Zane. I'm sure you've seen chicks with less clothes than me." The way he looked, he must have had plenty of them flocking around him.

"I'm not talking about me being distracted by you. Although I truly admire your…er…legs, I'm more concerned about what Zack said about not attracting attention. So you should let me sit at the front," he reasoned.

She just stared at him incredulously, speechless. Did he really think that that was enough of a reason for her to give up her baby to him? He had to be kidding. Then she smiled sweetly at him. "Then I guess it's really, really lucky that I had thought to leave my clothes with the bike, huh?" she said as she pulled out the clothes which she had hidden in one of the cardboard boxes.

Zane could not keep the disappointment from showing in his eyes.

"Turn around," she ordered as she shook her clothes out.

Zane frowned. "What?"

"I need to get changed, so turn around," she repeated. How was she supposed to change with him looking at her like that?

"Oh, okay," he said amiably, turning his back to her.

Keeping her eyes on his back, Max shed the nurse outfit and donned her clothes. A minute later, she said, "All done. Let's go."

But Zane did not move. He was still standing facing away from her.

"Zane?" she asked tentatively, her brows creasing.

When he did not respond, she laid a hand on his shoulders.

With an X5 lighting reflex, he spun around and grabbed her. Max suddenly found her arms held behind her back in his right hand with his left elbow jammed against her throat. Her eyes widened as she saw the blank, emotionless orbs of blue staring at her. What was Zane doing? Did he remember something?

"Zane?" she choked out. "What the hell?"

He blinked at her words, his confusion evident. Then as realisation dawned, his eyes widened in horror and he released her.

Max took a step back, eyeing him warily. "What was that for?"

Still staring at her, he said, "Sorry, Max. Didn't know what came over me."

"Did you remember something?" she asked, hoping that it was a sign that his memory was coming back.

Zane shook his head. "No, nothing. You just shocked me, that's all."

Max gave him a sceptical look. She did not believe what he had just said. Something had made him react the way he had done when she had tapped his shoulders.

"You sure?" she asked. Then carefully, she continued, "You can tell me, you know."

Sighing heavily, Zane said impatiently, "Really, it's nothing. So are we going somewhere or not?"

Max regarded him silently for a moment before she nodded. "Alright, let's go."

As they mounted the bike, Max promised herself that she would get to the bottom of what had happened just now. What if Zane decided to do the same when they were on the bike?

What if Zane's memory was so gone that he would snap at any time?

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: Review? Please? Oh, come on…I'm practically begging here (grins)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Okay, okay…I know I'm late again. Sorry! I've just been attending interviews all of last week and this week I've been haggling for more money from prospective employers to fund my existence, lol! But it should all calm down now and I can concentrate on writing! Yay! Erm…but you might find some mistakes in this chapter considering that I was trying to get it out as fast as I could!

**Doza** – I opened the box with the sigh which said 'Nice Review' and squealed! Ran around my room and did the crazy dance, thanking my wonderful reviewer! Hehe! Well, your suspicions might be right, but I shall not spoil the story for you by telling you which one it is, lol!

**Roxyroo **– Thanks for reviewing! Hmm, yeah, Zane's the hard one to figure out in this fic, isn't he? But I'm sure you have your suspicions (winks!)

**Calistra** – Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked the bike chat scene. Zane's attacking Max for a reason… (grins)

**Bitto **– Well spotted! Yeah, Zane's not quite what he seems, right? Good guesses, by the way, but you know I can't say at this point what it is. You'll have to read to find out (winks). Thanks for reviewing.

**Poptart **– Thanks for reviewing. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Ankari 238** – Thanks so much for reviewing all the chapters! You're right about the rules thing. Yes, some of Manticore's rules definitely need to be broken! Max and Zack would get closer as they spend more time together, but they both have an issue with their feeling…typical X5 style! (Sighs) I'm afraid that Zack's stubborn because he believes that he have to protect Max, hence taking the risk to save Zane by himself. As for Zane, you'll see more of his weird behaviour, which should give you an idea of what he's up to!

**Angelofdarkness78** – Here's the update! Yeah, there's something going on with Zane, and there's more of that in this chapter to add to the confusion, lol! And I guess you know by now that I'll try to keep you guessing until the end, hehe! Thanks for reviewing!

**HoneyX5-452** – Thanks for reviewing. Glad you like Zack and Zane…who wouldn't, hehe! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**X5898 **– Thanks for the long review! As always, I enjoy reading it! So sorry for the late update. Real life got in the way, lol! Vacations seemed like so long ago now. Yeah, Zack's getting all confused and frustrated about his feelings…much to our amusement, lol! But hopefully not for long more. And you're right, Zack knows that when it comes to those sorts of situations, i.e. in real battle, his siblings would not argue with him. They trust him enough to follow his lead. It's just that when it comes to personal life, they prefer to make their own decisions, but Zack insists on 'advising' them for their own good. I'm glad you're still finding the story entertaining!

**L80bug** – Thanks for reviewing! Hope you enjoy this chappie!

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 6**

(by elle6778)

Wordlessly, Max revved up her bike, her thoughts still on Zane's weird behaviour. She supposed he had just been reacting on reflex when she had suddenly laid her hand on his shoulder. He must have been deep in thought or something when she had done it.

Pulling her leg off the ground, she rode her bike out of the alley, glancing around surreptitiously at the half empty street. It was the end of a work-day and the street was gradually filling up with people and vehicles as she watched.

Max grinned in satisfaction. With so many people around, it would be harder for Lydecker to spot them, which suited her just fine. Much as she liked to ride her bike fast, she did not relish the thought of being chased all over Seattle with an injured transgenic behind her.

She guided her bike out and rode away from the hospital. The people on the streets barely gave them a glance as they hurried to their own business. Luckily for them, Lydecker's people were not present along their escape route.

Frowning worriedly, Max hoped that Zack was as lucky as they were.

_What if Lydecker got him?_ A small voice inside nagged at her.

_Zack won't let him_, Max thought, trying to reassure herself.

_But what IF he got caught?_ _Zack's not infallible,_ the voice persisted annoyingly.

_Not possible,_ Max insisted, but she felt herself growing cold at the thought. She tried to clamp down her feeling of panic. Zack knew what he was doing and he had always been better at Escape and Evade compared to the rest of their unit, so he should be okay. She knew that she could not bear to think otherwise.

Even though they had just reunited recently, she had felt a connection to him. A connection she knew that she did not want to lose. There were some subtle differences in the way she viewed him now compared to when she was a kid. They had grown up together and she had looked up to him. He had been her CO back in Manticore, and she supposed that he would always be a CO to all of them, even now. But he had also been her family, her brother.

_Brother?_ A voice inside mocked, interrupting her flow of thought.

Max frowned. They had always been part of this big, secret, illegal family in Manticore. Of course he was her brother. What else could he be?

An image of Zack sleeping in the cabin suddenly flashed across her eyes. She remembered what she had thought then, that Zack had grown up to be a really attractive man. His aura of command just enhanced it. The lanky form he had carried when she had last saw him during their escape had now been replaced with a well defined, muscular frame which he carried gracefully. His features had grown more defined, more masculine. She flushed as she remembered how her eyes had traced over the outline of his lips.

His very kissable lips.

The voice sniggered. _Yeah, Max. That's exactly how a sibling should view her brother. Way to go, girl!_

Max groaned inwardly. What was she doing? She could not possibly be thinking about Zack _THAT_ way, could she? It was wrong to think of him that way, wasn't it? But why was it wrong? Zack was never her biological brother. Now if it was Krit, then it would be wrong. But not Zack.

The whole issue was just too confusing.

Shaking her head violently, Max told herself to stop thinking about it. This was not a good time to get all confused about the status of her relationship with Zack. Maybe later, when they get out of this mess, she could sit down and trawl through her jumbled thoughts.

Determined to not let herself be distracted from their current situation, she pushed thoughts of Zack to the back of her mind. Focusing on their journey, Max continued to maneuver her bike through the streets until she reached the highway. At the moment, the priority was to bring Zane somewhere safe.

Through her thin trousers, she could feel his hand resting lightly against her hips. Suddenly she realized that Zane had not said a word or moved since they left the hospital. She wondered if he was still awake.

Glancing over her shoulders, she asked, raising her voice above the sound of the wind, "Are you alright back there?"

"Yeah, peachy," came the reply. After a short pause, Zane continued, "Where are we going?"

"This little cabin Zack found. I think we'll be safe there. Another half hour and we'll be there," Max explained.

"What about Zack?"

Max sighed. _Oh, why must he bring Zack up just as I managed to get him off my mind?_ Aloud, she said casually, "Yeah, what about Zack?"

"Zack's coming too, right? Or has he gone somewhere else?" Zane sounded confused.

"We're supposed to meet up at the cabin. He's probably not far behind," she said in a hopeful voice, her worry returning.

Zane seemed to have picked up her emotions. Laying a reassuring hand on her shoulders, he said, "He would be fine. Don't worry. He's our CO after all, right?"

Smiling a little, Max said, "I hope you're right."

They rode in silence after that, each lost in their own thoughts as Max continued to direct her bike towards the cabin.

* * *

Zack swore as he swerved to miss an oncoming car. The driver leaned out of his window, yelling at Zack loudly. Ignoring the driver, Zack looked back over his shoulders to see the black, unmarked SUV slipping in and out between other cars, trying to catch up with him.

Grinning, Zack revved his bike and continued to thread along the narrow gaps between the cars in front of him. He thanked the Blue Lady that the streets were full of vehicles this evening. The SUV would not be able to catch up with him in this mess. Rush hour traffic, he thought with satisfaction as he led them in the opposite direction from the cabin.

It did not take him long to lose the SUV. When he did, he made a turn and headed in the direction of the cabin.

He hoped that Max and Zane managed to get there safely. Under normal circumstances, the fact that the two of them were together would alleviate his worry rather than intensify it. But the situation was anything but normal. Zane had lost his memory, so Zack could not even begin to guess what went on in his mind now.

The Zane he knew was outwardly lighthearted and easygoing, but Zack knew that underneath that facade, the soldier in him was still present. Zack smiled as he remembered the time they had spent together. Like him, Zane also have an obsession for anything motorized and any gadgetry. They had spent many hours in the past dismantling and rebuilding Zack's bike, all the time discussing how they could enhance its performance further.

But this Zane was different. Although Zack had caught glimpses of the Zane he knew, this Zane seemed to be much more reserved.

Zane's usual protective streak was still there though, Zack thought sourly as his smile died suddenly. He recalled the way Zane had stood next to Max earlier, defending her. It would have been fine if Zane looked as if he had been protecting his sibling, but Zack noticed the very un-sibling-like expression on Zane's face when he had looked at Max. Obviously Zane had not been listening when Zack had told him that Max was his sister.

With a sigh, he thought back to his own actions. His reaction to Max was anything but brotherly, so he supposed he should not blame Zane for feeling the same way. Max had grown up to be a very beautiful woman. So a normal male would definitely react the way he and Zane had reacted, right?

He did not know why but Max unsettled him. Or rather, his recent un-sibling-like thoughts of her unsettled him. Especially after last night when he had been tending to her wound after she had her seizure. Groaning, he shook his head to clear the image of Max's long, shapely legs out of his mind._ Get a grip, soldier! Stop thinking like a hormonal teenager! And stop obsessing about Max!_

He had to get his mind back on track and get to the cabin to see if the two of them managed to arrive without mishap. They should be safe there for awhile since he had managed to lose Lydecker's men. Hopefully they had managed to evade the colonel as well.

Zack frowned as something occurred to him.

How did Lydecker manage to trace Zane to the hospital? Max had only known about it just because her quid-pro-quo 'friend' had a contact with the information. Or maybe Logan had been playing them. Maybe Logan was working for Lydecker and had managed to fool Max into trusting him. But then surely Logan would have turned Max in long time ago. The idea did not make any sense.

Could it be possible that Lydecker had the same contacts as well? He supposed that that was not impossible, considering Lydecker's extensive reach. This made more sense to Zack.

_Well, at least we have gotten rid of Lydecker for the moment now_, he thought. Hopefully their luck held out until he managed to get Zane to remember who he was. Letting Zane off by himself in his state would be too dangerous.

Impatient to get to the cabin as fast as he could, he increased his speed.

* * *

It took him an hour, but he finally arrived at the cabin. Dismounting a distance away, leaving his bike hidden in the woods, he made his way to the door. He noticed that Max had parked to one side of the cabin, half hiding her bike from view behind a stack of old, dry logs. The sky was getting darker and he could see a glow of muted light from the boarded-up windows, bringing him some measure of relief.

_They got here safely,_ he thought.

His sensitive ears pricked as he caught a shuffling sound from the cabin, followed by a thump. He stiffened as a crash sounded. After a short pause, he heard a loud gasp followed by a curse from a female voice which Zack recognized as Max's.

_What the hell was happening in there,_ he wondered in bewilderment.

He wanted to rush in but the Manticore training in him forced him to slow down as he approached the cabin. His eyes scanned the surrounding to make sure that he was alone. Finally satisfied that there was no one else around, he walked up to the door and flattened himself to the side of the cabin. His hand reached behind him to pull out a gun which he had taken from one of Lydecker's men. With the gun in one hand, he reached out his other hand and shoved the door open.

Knowing that he needed to find out what was happening in there, Zack blurred across the door, keeping the gun aimed as he flicked a glance into the cabin. His eyes widened in shock as he registered what was happening.

Not bothering to use the wall as a cover any longer, he lowered his gun and stepped into the cabin.

Zane was lying face-down on the floor, struggling as Max knelt over him, pinning his legs down with her knees. She had his arms twisted in an arm lock, effectively immobilizing him. They both looked up at Zack. Zane with a look of confusion on his face and Max with an angry frown.

Scowling as he surveyed the scene, Zack stepped closer. "Care to tell me what's going on here?" he asked levelly. He did not know what he had expected to see, but this was not the scene he had envisaged when he heard those strange noises.

Still holding Zane down, Max replied angrily, "Why don't you ask him? One minute he's out and the next, he's attacking me. Again!"

Zack stiffened. His eyes traveled over Max's body, reassuring himself that she was alright. He turned to Zane, ready to give him hell for attacking Max when he suddenly realized that Zane appeared to be in a worse state than she was.

Zack took a deep breath before he spoke. "He attacked you? Again? What do you mean?" he asked calmly, looking back and forth between the two transgenics on the floor.

"He rammed his arm in my throat earlier and just a minute ago, he kicked me halfway across the room. Pretty impressive for someone who was supposed to be hurt," Max snapped as she glared down at Zane in disgust.

"I didn't mean to do it! It just happened!" Zane defended himself. He gave Zack a pleading look. "Get her to let me go."

Zack remained silent as he deliberated. Obviously something was wrong with Zane if he had attacked Max twice in such a short time, but Zack knew that between him and Max, they would be able to subdue him if necessary. There was probably not much harm in letting him loose.

Turning to Max, he said, "Max, it's okay. I think it's safe to let him go."

Her eyes rounded incredulously. "What? You've got to be kidding. Didn't you hear what I've just said? He _attacked_ me, Zack!"

Zack released a weary sigh. "Yeah, I heard you. Just let him go, okay?" he said, hoping that he would not have to spend the entire evening trying to talk Max into getting her knees off Zane. Zane seemed as if he was in a lot of pain. Zack wondered how he had even managed to kick Max halfway across the room.

Zack's heart sank as he noticed that Max looked like she was about to argue with him over it. _Oh, not again,_ he thought. As their eyes locked, Max gave him a stubborn look.

To Zack's surprise, her eyes softened after a moment and she grudgingly got off Zane, releasing his arms. He wondered what had changed her mind.

Bending over Zane, he held his hand out to help the injured transgenic up. Zane groaned painfully as Zack pulled him to the couch.

"So, what's up with you?" Zack asked as Zane sank into the couch with a sigh of relief.

Zane shook his head slowly. "I don't know. I remember falling asleep, and then next I was standing right here…" he said, gesturing at a spot in front of the couch. "…watching Max land on the floor a few feet away."

Zack's brow drew closer. "You don't remember kicking her?"

"No," he replied, and then frowned, "But I think I was dreaming before it happened. Just flashes and stuff of me being in a fight."

"A fight? What sort of fight?" Max asked, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched Zane warily.

Zane buried his head in his hands. "It's just flashes," he mumbled.

"Where were you in the fight?" Max asked impatiently.

Zane raised his head. "Some sort of training ground. I was on a mat, fighting with a girl. There was a soldier yelling at me to pull myself together and shape up," he said, the expression in his eyes far away.

Zack sucked in his breath. "You're probably remembering one of our sparring sessions in Manticore," he said as he exchanged a look with Max. She had been regarding Zane with suspicion but now she had an understanding look in her eyes.

They had been through many of those sessions. The drill instructor in charge had always given them a hard time, irregardless of how well they had been performing.

Max stepped closer to Zane. "You won't decide to throw me across the room this time, right?" she asked just before she sat down beside him.

Giving her a rueful smile, Zane replied, "I'll try not to. Sorry for that kick earlier."

Brushing away his apology, Max said, "No biggie. I've survived worse."

"Pretty strong for something so small, huh?" Zane teased.

"Didn't anyone tell you that size doesn't matter?" Max retorted lightly.

Zack watched them as they continued to bicker, trying to ignore the feeling of annoyance which suddenly crept up upon him. _What the hell? He can't be feeling jealous of them talking, can he?_

"So what are we going to do now?" Max asked, snapping Zack out of his thoughts.

Sighing, he realized that if Zane did not recover his memory soon, things would get more complicated for them. Especially if he continued with the random unprovoked acts of violence. That meant that Zack would have to remain with him until he remembered more.

But what about Max? He would not allow her to go back to Seattle now, especially after the soldiers had had a good look at her for the second time around. It would be a tactical suicide. So she would have to remain with them as well, until he could get her to San Francisco. However, considering his wayward thoughts about her, Zack was not sure if it was a good idea for them to be in such close proximity for an extended time.

And what about tactical exposure? Since he could not leave either Zane or Max alone, he wondered if it would be safer for Max to know where Zane was living or for Zane to know where Max would be living.

"Zack?" Zane prompted as Zack remained silent.

Pulling his thoughts together, Zack finally said, "We could stay here until you get your memory back, or I could take you home." _After we bring Max to San Francisco_, he added silently.

Zane rolled his eyes. "Nice to know that I actually have a home. Where is it?"

Zack shot a glance at Max and then shook his head at Zane. "You'll see."

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: Okay, I'll not beg this time… (grins)… Oh PLEASE…please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Next chapter's up! Okay, after this chapter, things are going to go much faster as far as Zane is concerned. I'm now finally satisfied with all that background and Max/Zack thoughts, lol!

**Doza **– Thanks for reviewing. You're probably wise to be skeptical about the story, hehe! You don't have to wait much longer to find out which one of your theories is correct…just one or two more chapters! As for being a precog…that's definitely possible in your case, lol!

**Calistra **– Thanks for reviewing. Still stagnant this chapter. I'm trying to progress the MZ bit of the story, which proves to be a bit of a challenge.

**Ankari 238** – Yeah, I know Zane's a bit off, and you're right in saying that there's something more. I can't say what it is now but you'll see in the next chapter or so what's with him. As for Max's choice of X5 male, she would make up her mind in this chapter (grins). Thanks for reviewing

**HoneyX5-452** – Lol! Not many MZ stories around, huh? Wonder why… Zane's weird for a good reason (I think!). You'll see in Chapter 8. Thanks for reviewing.

**X5898 **– Thanks for reviewing. Yup! Max's trademark denial has surfaced, lol! But not for long this time. Zack being responsible for his unit made him seem like a father, lol! How true, hehe! Poor guy could have no peace at all. He definitely have a problem with Max and Zane being the way they are.

**Angelofdarkness78** – Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you still like the story. Hehe, there's seems to be a lot of theories about Zane. In reality, its really simple, but you'll have to wait another chapter to find out. This chapter is more MZ than Zane. Enjoy!

**Roxyroo** – Thanks for reviewing. I was thinking about the heat as well at one point, but then I realized that Max had just had her heat just recently, so the timeline doesn't tie in with the episodes (sighs). But you're right, it would have made things more fun!

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 7**

(by elle6778)

Max watched silently as Zack tended to Zane's bandages, checking to see if the injured transgenic had healed enough for them to travel. Her eyes followed his hands as they carefully peeled off the bandages. She noticed that for someone who has such strong hands, his movements were gentle as he went on to replace the bandages.

A stray image wandered into her mind, an image of those hands against her skin, doing something more than tending wounds. Max felt herself flush as the image evolved into something more erotic.

Blinking rapidly, she forced the thoughts away, appalled at herself. What was wrong with her that she kept thinking of Zack THAT way?

_Because you like him THAT way, you dolt,_ the devilish voice in her replied cheerfully.

_Right, like I believe that,_ Max thought, snorting inwardly.

_Yeah, denial is always good as well_, the voice said sarcastically.

_I don't like him THAT way,_ Max insisted.

_Why else would you be thinking of him all the time? And those thoughts you've been having are definitely not sisterly. Face it, Max. You can deny it all you like but the truth is right there in front of you,_ the voice pointed out smugly.

Max stiffened as she processed the information. It was too early for her to say for sure, but the signs were all there for her to see, just that she did not wanted to believe it. Being infatuated with Zack would cause a whole lot of problems.

First, the guy was still firmly entrenched in his Manticore role. That meant that he still viewed her from a CO's point of view, which made personal relationships impossible. Other than those of the sibling kind, of course. Zack did not seem to have a problem with sibling relationships.

Second, Zack felt that these sorts of stuff were what he called phony-sentimentality. He would always shy away from these things if he could help it, and Max was not sure if she could convince him otherwise. Since he was a kid, he had always been that way.

Third, how could anything happen when Zack wanted them to split up? Go chase after him? That was just impractical.

_But was it?_ The voiced questioned annoyingly.

Max frowned. _Chasing after Zack?_

Somehow that idea appealed to her mischievous side. She knew that having her after him would annoy him to no end, and the thought made her grin inwardly. And if she succeeded, that would hopefully mean that Zack would be happy for them to stay together instead of splitting up.

But it would all end it tears if he did not return her feelings, she realized as the voice of reason came back. Not only that, it would basically destroy whatever sibling or non-sibling relationship they have now. Max was not sure if she wanted to risk it.

Max wondered since when she had started to think so thoroughly on an issue before acting. Her mode of operation had always been shoot first and ask questions later. Her choice of words made her cringe as she remembered her aversion towards guns.

Bringing herself back to the question at hand, she realized that she needed to make her mind up soon, it was uncharacteristic of her to keep mulling over something like this. Should she follow her instincts or her head? She has got a lot to lose if it went all wrong, but if things went as planned, the reward would be more than worth the effort.

Her instincts never let her down before.

"Max? Max!" Zack's voice penetrated her thoughts. He was looking at her strangely.

Startled, she replied sharply, "What?" Wondering if he had caught her staring, she forced her expression to remain impassive.

Instead of Zack, Zane said, "You seemed to be so out of it a second ago. Completely in your own world. What are you thinking about?" he asked curiously.

Grinning, Max said, "You're seeing things. Must have knocked your head harder than you thought, bro."

"At least I have an excuse. What about you? Just born with it?" Zane retorted.

Max rolled her eyes. "Whatever you need to tell yourself."

"I knew there was a reason why I kept you all apart," Zack muttered under his breath. "And you two need to grow up."

Eyes twinkling, Zane ran his eyes up and down Max's body before he said, "She's pretty grown up from what I can see."

"What the hell are you doing checking me out? You're supposed to be my brother, remember?" Max said, a mock-offended expression plastered over her face as she laid her hands on her hips.

"I can't help having eyes, sis. If you parade that body in front of me, I would have to be blind not to notice," Zane threw back with a grin.

"It's kind of sad in a very deprived way. Sorry to disappoint, but I don't think you should continue looking. It's grossing me out," Max said, twisting her face to show her disgust.

"So long as we don't have children, I think it would be fine," Zane said, waggling his brows.

Max snorted, "You need to wake up from that dream world of your soon, you know."

Giving her a dreamy look, Zane said with a sigh, "If you're in it-"

"That's enough, Zane," Zack snapped, his irritation evident for all to see. He shot a glare at Zane before he strode stiffly to the door.

As the door slammed shut, Zane and Max exchanged a confused look.

Max did not know what Zane was thinking, but she was pretty sure that he had just been joking. Zack's reaction and tone of voice made him sound almost…jealous. Her heart-rate picked up as realization dawned. It was too good to be true and the strangeness of it all had her mind reeling.

Was Zack actually interested in her?

Now, she definitely knew what she needed to do.

* * *

Zack leaned his forehead against a tree outside the cabin, barely noticing the increasing darkness of the sky above the leafy trees as he tried to calm his breathing.

_You idiot, that was a stupid thing to do…_ the rant went on in Zack's head as he realized that he had over-reacted.

He had always prided himself on being able to remain in control, at least outwardly. But somehow, something inside him just exploded when he saw Zane looking at Max that way. The saner part of him knew that they had just been kidding around, but the insane, unreasonable part of him refused to stay low. Hence the outburst.

Zack groaned. Storming out of the cabin that way would surely send Max and Zane into a heated debate as to what caused it. There was no doubt in his mind that they were now discussing his uncharacteristic behavior.

Zack did not mind them discussing, as long as they did not stumble across the truth.

He could no longer deny it. His actions today confirmed that somewhere along the way, he had grown a very un-brotherly attraction to Max. The signs were all there; just that he had repeatedly refused to acknowledge it.

Maybe that was why he had never approached her in all these years. Maybe that was why he had not given her his number the way he had given it to the rest of his siblings. Maybe somewhere inside, he had known that something like this would happen. He had to admit that even when they were young, he had to try harder to distance himself from her emotionally than the others.

Getting emotionally involved with Max would not be the right thing to do. Zack refused to entertain the idea. So what if he was attracted to her? Realising his feelings did not mean that he had to do anything about it.

Steeling his resolve, Zack told himself that he would keep this from her even if it killed him. There was no way he was getting involved with Max.

However much his heart told him otherwise.

Pushing himself off the tree, he turned around to make his way back to the cabin. Zack frowned as he tried to think of a believable excuse to justify his actions to Zane and Max, but came up with nothing.

As he was about to reach out his hand to the doorknob, the crunching sound of tires rolling over gravel and twigs in the distance made him freeze.

_Shit, it can't be Lydecker, can it?_ Zack thought as his level of alertness shot sky-high. _But who else could it be? And how the hell did he find us here so fast?_

Not wasting another second wondering, he pushed the door open and ran in.

Barely registering the look of surprise on Max and Zane's face, he snapped out urgently, "Lydecker's here. We've got to move out."

Standing up abruptly, Max asked, a small frown creasing her brows, "How did he find us? Are you sure it's Lydecker?"

"No. But I'm not going to risk it by hanging around. We still have time," he said, grabbing his rucksack. Hurriedly stuffing the rucksack with his belongings, he ordered, "Zane, you're coming with me. Max, if we get separated, head to the place where we discussed before, not Seattle. I'll find you there. Let's go now."

"Zack, I told you I don't want to-" Max's protest was cut off.

"Max, this is really not the time to argue. Is it so hard for you to follow a simple order?" Zack snapped irritably as they rushed out of the door.

When Max looked as if she was about to protest again, Zane interjected calmly, "Just listen to him, okay. I thought he was supposed to be our CO."

Letting out a resigned sigh, Max said, "Fine." Mounting her bike, she started the engine.

"Finally!" Zack muttered as he and Zane got on his bike and started it.

Pulling up next to Max, Zack noticed the stubborn set of her chin. He scowled as he wondered how she could look so good even when she was pissed off. Outwardly, he said shortly, "Let's go."

* * *

The events of that night set the tone for the next two days. Wherever they went, Lydecker seemed to be not far behind. They had barely stopped at all the entire trip, except to grab a quick bite and to refuel. Transgenics or not, they were beginning to feel the strain from their lack of rest.

Luckily for Max and Zack, Zane had recovered enough to ride, hence they were able to rotate such that one of them could rest for a few hours at a time. Without that, Max was not sure that they would have managed it. _Zack must feel worse than me_, she thought, knowing that he did not have shark DNA, unlike her.

The entire situation was bizarre. Surely Lydecker's men, being ordinaries, needed to sleep much more than the transgenics. How they had managed to track the three of them for more than two full days was beyond Max. They were now practically halfway across the state.

As she caught sight of a small diner in the distance, Max's stomach signaled its need for food. Turning to Zack, who was taking his turn to rest behind Zane, she yelled over the wind, "Pit stop! I've gotta grab some grub."

Nodding, Zack said with a yawn, "Okay, I could do with some coffee."

"Tell me about it. And I think we need to refuel again," Zane grumbled as he guided Zack's bike towards the diner. Brown dust churned behind him as he turned right sharply.

"Good thing we actually have money," Max said as they turned into the parking area in front of the diner. The fuel shop was just right beside it, she noted with relief. She handed over a few bills to Zane, gesturing at the shop.

Taking the money, Zane asked curiously, "Where did you get all that cash, anyway?"

Max grinned. "A well-paying side job."

Zack raised his eyebrows and snorted, "Right."

Looking confused, Zane asked, "What?"

Max turned to Zane, suddenly realizing that he did not remember anything. "Nevermind. Tell you later."

Zane just shrugged and went into the shop for the fuel.

"I wish he could remember stuff," Max said to Zack as she watched Zane disappear into the stop. But even without his memory, she had found Zane to be quite fun to be with. It was a shame he did not remember, she thought.

"Yeah, I wanted to know who's responsible for all that injury he's got. Zane's very good at hand-to-hand, so I'm surprised that someone got him so bad."

"But at least we found him in time before Lydecker got to the hospital," Max said as they walked into the diner.

A young waitress came to them, her eyes traveling over Zack appreciatively. Max narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to Zack. Seeing the look Max shot her, the waitress straightened and asked politely, "Ready to order?"

Seemingly oblivious to the effect he had on the waitress, Zack said with a smile, "Three large portions of today's special, please."

"Sure, honey. Won't be a second," the waitress said, writing the order down as she popped her gum. She avoided looking at Max when she turned to head back to the kitchen.

Going back to the topic, Zack said, "I've been thinking about that. It's strange that Lydecker knew where to find him so fast. That old man must have a good network of contacts."

Max nodded thoughtfully. "If Logan's contact could find out, I suppose it can't be too hard for Lydecker."

"Funny thing is, I've always managed to evade them, but this time, they just wouldn't go away. It has been two days and we still can't shake them off," Zack said irritably.

"But I suppose those times you're alone, right? It's easier to hide if you're a smaller target," Max grinned, "At least, that's what they used to tell us, remember?"

"You know, something else had occurred to me about all this. When you and I ran off that day, Lydecker didn't manage to track us down. But ever since Zane's been with us, Lydecker seems to be not far behind," Zack noted softly.

Max froze at Zack's implication. "What are you saying, Zack? That Zane's Lydecker's spy?"

"I know it sounds weird. But the thing keeps nagging at me. Also, some of the things Zane remembers worries me."

"Like what?"

"He remembers how to shoot but he said he doesn't know how to fight. But when you two were fighting that day, you said that he kicked you right across the room. And those sudden freak-outs where he attacked you sound suspicious. Zane had not seen you for a decade, so even if he remembered sparring with you, he should remember you as a kid, not an adult. So why should he want to spar with you?"

"Zack, the guy has a problem with his memory. What do you expect?" Max reasoned. What Zack had just said made sense, but Zane could be innocent for all they knew.

Zack sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "I don't know, Max. I have this feeling that something is going on, just that we don't know what it is."

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: So what do you think? A few more chapters to go, then we're done! Please review! I'm craving it!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you for all you reviews! I really enjoyed reading them.

**Calistra** – You might be right with your guess, hehe! You'll find out part of it soon. Thanks for reviewing!

**X5898** – Glad you're still finding it interesting. My greatest fear is that the fic becomes predictable and boring, lol! Heh! As for Zane, yeah, you'll kinda guess if your theory is correct after this chapter I think! You're right about Zack…he wouldn't know what hit him once Max makes her move. Which should come up fully blown in the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

**Bitto **– Patience! I'm getting there. It's not long more before everything gets clear. Thanks for reviewing.

**HoneyX5-452** – Thanks for reviewing! You have a good reason to be suspicious of Zane, lol! But you'll find out more in this chapter. I'm aiming to finish it in about 3 chapters or so.

**Angelofdarkness78 **– Heh! Your guesses are all entirely possible (winks). And you'll find out soon if they are right! Max and Zack is slowly getting there…actually it's more like Zack running and Max attacking him, lol! Thanks for reviewing!

**Ankari 238** – I'm glad you enjoyed how I described Zack and Max. Of course Max's jealous – as far as she's concerned, she has set her eyes on Zack and intend to make him see it, much to our amusement! As for Zane…_maybe_ your psyops theory is right, but it's not quite there. You'll find out in the next chapter (grins). Thanks for reviewing!

**Roxyroo **– Thanks for reviewing! If I see a nice spot to put a heat scene in, I will (grins). And yep…a tracer in Zane as you'll see in this chappie!

**BlueAngel137** – Glad you liked Zack's jealousy. He still stubbornly clings to his belief that he should not get emotionally involved with Max though…Hehe! But for how long can he withstand Max's charms? (grins) Thanks for reviewing!

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 8**

(by elle6778)

Zane returned from the shop just as their food arrived. Tucking into the mountain of food the way only X5s could, they soon cleared their plates clean of food.

Leaning back against her chair with a sigh of satisfaction, Max said, "I needed that."

Grinning at her, Zane teased, "Carry on like that and you'll end up looking like an elephant."

She rolled her eyes but decided that it took too much effort to reply to his comment. Shifting her glance from Zane to Zack, she noticed that the latter was deep in thought. He must be thinking about their conversation earlier.

A moment later, Zack stood up and nodded to the door. "We've got to get a move on. Lydecker's probably not far behind."

A frown creased Zane's brow. "You know, isn't strange that we can't seem to shake them off?"

Max stiffened and glanced sideways, exchanging a look with Zack. "Uh, yeah. Strange," she mumbled, thinking back to her conversation with Zack just before Zane turned up at the diner.

Oblivious to the undercurrents, Zane walked out and headed to their bikes with Zack and Max trailing not far behind. Not wanting Zane to hear what she was going to say to Zack, she laid a hand on his shoulders to hold him back. She stifled a grin of satisfaction when he tensed at the contact, glad that he was affected by her touch.

_Time to up the heat,_ she decided. _Let's see if he would react._

When he turned back to face her, she leaned closer than necessary before whispering softly, just loud enough for him to hear, "You know, Zack. I don't think Zane has anything to do with the whole thing. He seemed just as stumped as we are." Her face was set in an innocent expression as she gazed into his eyes, which were only inches apart from hers.

"I don't know, Max. But I think we need to find out soon," he replied just as softly, but the barely perceptible tightness in his tone telling Max what she wanted to know. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, he broke their gaze and said in a stronger voice, "I think I know how."

Her thoughts of teasing Zack evaporated as she noticed the serious look he suddenly adopted. Apprehensively, she asked, "How?"

"You'll see," he said cryptically as he started walking towards Zane. When he reached Zane, Zack gestured for Zane to follow him behind the fuel shop.

Max hurried after him, hoping that he would not do anything to harm Zane. Although they had just reunited, Max had decided that she quite liked the other transgenic. But not the way she liked Zack, of course.

As she stepped near them, she heard Zack say, "Stay still, okay. This is not going to take long."

Zane's expression showed his confusion when he asked, "What's wrong?"

Max's eyes widened as she realized what Zack was doing. He was searching Zane for bugs. She supposed that it was the obvious conclusion for him to come to considering their situation. They had no idea where Zane had been before they had found him in the hospital. For all they knew, Lydecker had gotten to him first.

As Zack meticulously patted Zane down inch by inch, Max could not help but grin at the long suffering expression on Zane's face. He was taking it really well, considering that he did not know the purpose behind Zack's actions.

Making a face, Zane proclaimed, "Well, I would never have thought that you swing that way, Zack. But hey, since you saved me from that Lydecker, I suppose I do owe you something. Just be careful where you put those hands, okay? My body is precious to me."

Max could not help herself, she snorted loudly, earning a scowl from Zack.

Winking at Max, Zane invited, "Maybe you should join in as well. I've always wanted to try a threesome. Though I was kind of thinking more of a case of me with two chicks."

Max smiled sweetly and responded, "Nah, I might _accidentally _damage your precious body."

Still scowling, Zack ordered in a clipped tone, "Take of your shirt."

Giving Zack an incredulous look, Zane took a step back. "Whoa, man. Hold it right there! My gratefulness only goes so far. I'm not going to let you paw me without a shirt on. It's sick!"

Tired of having to repeat himself, Zack gave Zane an unrelenting look. "Shirt off, Zane. We're going to do this the easy way or the hard way. It's your call."

Zane regarded him for a moment before he finally sighed in defeat. "Alright. No need to get so wound up," he said, pulling off his shirt, revealing his muscular torso. Turning to Max, he grinned cockily and waggled his eyebrows.

Max shook her head slowly as she swept her eyes over him. "Not bad, soldier," she commented with a slight smirk. Her smirk turned into a full blown grin when she saw the almost imperceptible stiffening of Zack's shoulders. _It's working,_ she thought in satisfaction.

She was more than convinced now that Zack was interested.

* * *

Zack felt his temper rise when he noticed the direction of Max's gaze. Why the hell was she checking Zane out? As he saw the smug look on Zane's face, he felt like punching the lights out of the bare-chested transgenic.

"Stay still," Zack instructed tightly, trying to clamp down on his animosity as he proceeded to search Zane thoroughly.

After a few minutes, he finally found what he was looking for. It had been almost impossible to find. The small object, the size of a grain of rice, was embedded just under Zane's skin next to his barcode. Its function, however, was clear to Zack. They had learnt about this in one of their lessons back in Manticore.

The question was; why did Zane have one in his neck? Was he a traitor all along or Manticore had somehow brainwashed him? Was the memory loss a just ruse to trick them? Whatever it was, Zack was determined to find out before things could get worse.

Yanking Zane around roughly to face him, he growled threateningly. "You better have a good excuse for the tracer behind your neck."

Max gasped, throwing an accusing look at Zane. "So it's you!"

Looking completely bewildered, Zane gaped wordlessly for a moment before he found his voice. "What are you talking about, Zack? What tracer?"

"I'll show you," Zack snapped and reached into his pocket.

Zane's eyes widened as Zack took out a pocket knife. Backing away from Zack, he held his hands up and said in a low voice, "Man, whatever your problem is, I have nothing to do with it. I know nothing about a tracer."

"Zack, what are you doing?" Max asked as she stepped forward, her wary eyes on the knife.

Still keeping his eyes on Zane, he replied, "Trust me on this, Max. Grab him and hold him still."

"What? NO!" Zane protested vehemently as Max looked back and forth between the two of them, her actions showing her indecision.

_Why the hell was Max hesitating? All he had asked was for her to hold Zane still_, Zack fumed. Annoyed beyond belief, he ordered tersely, "NOW, Max! We don't have time to hang around. Lydecker's going to be here soon."

Something in his voice must have finally gotten the message through to her. Max stepped up to Zane, her eyes apologetic as she grabbed his arm. Zane's expression displayed his fear as he struggled against Max, but with his recent injuries, he could not escape from her grasp.

Zack stepped behind Zane and laid the knife against his neck. With a swift movement, he sliced into Zane's skin and the tracer popped out.

Catching it in his hand, Zack smiled grimly and said to Max, "You can let him go now."

When he was released, Zane turned to give Zack a look of disgust as he rubbed his sore neck. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled as his hand came back all smeared with blood.

Holding up the blood-stained tracer, Zack said in a hard tone, "Explain how this got into your neck. This is why Lydecker had been able to track us so easily. Because you've been giving away our location all this time."

Eyeing the object in Zack's palm, Zane's brow furrowed. "You actually think that I know it's there? I thought you said Lydecker's out to get all of us!" His voice was raised in agitation.

"Come on, Zack. He really doesn't look like he knows it's there," Max said, appearing not too convinced herself. After a small pause, she continued briskly, pointing to the tracer, "And we need to destroy that now and leave. We can deal with how it's there later."

Zack had to admit that Max had a point. There was no use in them discussing it now. They have a more urgent problem to contend with; Lydecker. Taking a last look at the tracer, he then dropped it and ground it flat with his heels.

"Alright, let's go," he said. Frowning, he wondered if it was safer for him to ride with Zane or for Zane to ride with Max. After a few moments, he reached his decision.

Gesturing at his bike, Zack turned to Zane and instructed, "You can handle that yourself. But damage my bike and I'll kill you. Max will ride with me." He did not like it, but he guessed that for the sake of their safety, it made sense. Who knew if Zane had not been pretending all along? Hurt or not, Zane might be capable of harming them while they were on the same bike, and Zack had no intention of letting that happen to himself or Max. The loss of his bike was unavoidable if it happened, but it would be a small price to pay.

Zane looked at him with an expression which resembled hurt. "You don't trust me," he stated flatly. But he made his way to Zack's bike.

Zack stared at Zane retreating back for a moment before saying levelly, "I'm not sure you would trust us if the situation was reversed. This is for the best." Then he walked to Max's bike.

Her hand on her hips, Max warned, "Zack, you're not driving my bike."

A surge of irritation rose in him at Max's words. He wondered if she was capable of listening to him _just once_ without arguing. "I'm driving, Max," Zack said in a tone of finality.

Narrowing her eyes, Max insisted, "That's my bike."

"I know," he snapped, exasperated. "You can have it back intact later. And since you're riding with me, you can make sure that nothing happens to it."

Max looked as if she wanted to argue further, but wisely held her tongue. Grudgingly she said, "Fine. But I'll have your ass if anything happens to it."

Zack decided that that was the best he could get out of her and proceeded to mount her bike. When he turned back to face her, he was surprised to see a mischievous twinkle in her eyes and a smug look on her face. The alarms went off in his head. Why in the world did she have that cat got the cream look on her face? She had the appearance of someone plotting something.

His curiosity overtaking his caution, he asked, "What's that look for?"

Blinking at him, she said innocently, "What look?"

Knowing that she would not elaborate any further, Zack gave up, deciding that whatever it was, it could not be anything too bad. Inserting the key into the ignition, he revved up the bike and said, "Hop on."

* * *

Max was not sure, but she had been honest when she said that did not think Zane knew about the tracer. His reactions had been too surprised, too natural when Zack had confronted him about it. There was only one way to find out if Zane had been telling the truth; to watch him closely and to see if Lydecker came any closer to them.

They had been riding for a few hours in no apparent direction, Zane on Zack's bike and her behind Zack on her bike. Lydecker's men was nowhere in sight, which convinced Max that the tracer which Zack had destroyed must be the only one in place.

Realising that they could relax a bit now, the idea that she had a few hours ago outside the diner came back to prod her. A smile tugged at her lips when she debated with herself whether or not she should do what she had planned to do.

Her mischievous side won, overriding all the protests from her sane side.

She had been sitting with her hands loosely placed at the side of Zack's hips. The said hands, however, were now inching forward as she slowly leaned closer to his back, pressing her cheek against his leather-clad back. She grinned as she felt Zack stiffen noticeably, but he did not say anything.

He kept up the tense posture for the next half hour although Max did not move any closer. She wondered how long he could remain in that state.

Another ten minutes passed before she decided that she should tease him further. Slowly, she slid her hand across his midsection, hearing him suck in his breath sharply as her palm touched his stomach though his thin shirt.

But he still remained frustratingly silent.

Determined to get more of a reaction from him, Max pressed her front fully against his back and moved her fingers into the gap between the bottom of his shirt and the waistband of his jeans. A surge of satisfaction washed over her as the bike wobbled precariously for a second.

"Watch it," she warned.

"Max! What are you doing?" he hissed over his shoulders.

"What?" she questioned in an innocent voice.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Zack gritted out tightly.

"Gee, Zack, I don't know what's bothering you, but I can't help if you don't tell me," she said dryly, hiding her smile.

This was much more fun that she thought it would be.

* * *

Zack blinked his eyes rapidly to clear the sudden haze of desire which enveloped him ever since he felt Max's body tight against his. She had been moving closer and closer to him in the last hour. He had tried, but the feel of her warm hand through his thin shirt and the contours of her body refused to let him ignore the effect she had on him. Stifling a groan, he wondered if she was trying to kill him by torturing him.

He had held his tongue for what seemed like hours, but when her fingers touched his bare skin, he had momentarily lost control of the bike. The accusation had then popped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He felt like a fool now for his questions. She really sounded as if she did not know what she was doing to him. Why would she be consciously touching him that way anyway?

But then he recalled the suspicious look on her face just before he asked her to get on the bike. Was she doing this on purpose? Was she trying to tell him something? Did she know how he felt and had decided to tease him about it?

Before he could answer any of the questions, the cellphone in his pocket rang.

"Damn," he swore as he tried to extract the cellphone from his jacket. Signalling Zane to stop, Zack brought Max's bike to a halt at the side of the road and took out the phone.

The display on the screen says _'unidentifiable number'_, Zack noticed with a frown. It was probably one of the others. He had told them never to use a traceable phone.

Pressing a button, he pressed the phone to his ear. "Yeah?"

"Zack?" a voice replied.

Instantly recognising the voice, Zack felt the blood rush from his head. _This is not possible!_ _What the hell was going on?_ Trying to keep his voice steady, he said, "What's up?"

"Nothing. Just calling to see how you're doing, and to piss you off, what else?" the voice said cheerfully.

"Very funny. Is everything okay?" Zack asked guardedly, his eyes flicking to Zane, who was sitting on his bike, inspecting the almost healed wounds on his arms.

A small pause before the voice answered with a slightly confused tone, "Yeah, nothing out of the ordinary. Same thing everyday. I've just been thinking, isn't it time for you to come over?"

"I've got something to sort out here. Listen, keep your eyes open, okay? The old man had been sniffing around," Zack advised.

"You worry too much. I can take care of myself," the voice said confidently.

"I'm serious."

"What's new? Okay, give me a call when you're done with your rounds."

"Okay," Zack answered before clicking the phone shut. He sat stock still, hardly believing what he had heard, but suddenly a lot of things seemed to make sense in a weird kind of way. A soft touch on his arms startled him out of his thoughts.

"You okay?" Max asked, looking worried.

Nodding, he said, "Yeah. Just need to clear something up right now," he said, getting off the bike. Turning to Max, he said cryptically, "Don't interrupt, okay?"

Max's expression showed her confusion. "Huh?"

But before she could voice her question, Zack was already striding purposefully towards Zane. The look on his face was a mix of determination and anger.

Glaring at Zane, Zack growled, "Your game's up. Who the hell are you?"

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: I guess by now you should have at least part of your theories confirmed! Looking forward to your reviews!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: A big thank you to all those who reviewed!

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 9**

(by elle6778)

Glaring at Zane, Zack growled, "Your game's up. Who the hell are you?"

Taken aback, Zane just stared wordlessly at Zack.

_If he thinks he can get away by being silent_… Zack fumed inwardly just before his fist extended and contacted hard with Zane's jaw.

Cursing loudly in surprise, Zane ducked another oncoming punch and tried to escape. Before he could, Zack snapped his hand out and grasped Zane by the neck. "You heard me, soldier! What's your designation?"

"Zack! What are you doing?" Max yelled out as she rushed towards them.

"Stay back, Max," he ordered without breaking eye contact with Zane. He felt Max stop right beside him, but did not turn to her. The last thing he needed at that moment was distraction, and Max was a walking distraction. He needed to deal with this so-called 'Zane'.

"Man, what do you mean? What designation?" 'Zane' choked out in bewildered. His hands came up, trying to pry Zack's grip away, but Zack was too strong. And too angry.

"Zack, stop it! What's going on?" Max asked in confusion.

Knowing that Max would not stop until she knew what was happening, Zack bit out, "This is not Zane. I've just got off the phone with the _real_ Zane. So, the question still remains; who are you?" He shook 'Zane' roughly.

Max stood stock still beside him; her eyes pinned on 'Zane' in shock. And then when she registered what Zack had said, her defensive instincts kicked in visibly.

"Who are you?" she asked, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"How the hell should I know? You were the ones who told me I'm Zane!" 'Zane' rasped, still trying to escape from Zack's grip. "Let me go, man!"

His face contorted with disgust, Zack released him and shoved him, sending 'Zane' sprawling to the ground. Zack could not believe how thoroughly he had been duped. 'Zane's weird behavior should have alerted him, but Zack had not caught on to the game. First the hospital and then, the tracer. For all he knew, 'Zane' might still have something else up his sleeves.

"What are we going to do now?" Max asked, turning her questioning eyes to Zack.

"We're leaving him here," Zack said tightly. He had no intention of exposing him and Max any further. As it was, the spy already knew more about them that he should.

'Zane' stared at him in shock. "We're in the middle of nowhere. You're just going to leave me here?"

"Should we care?" Max asked with a bored expression.

"Hell, I don't even know who I am! So how could I have known about the tracer or whatever else you guys are accusing me of?" he yelled desperately.

Zack stared at Zane thoughtfully as doubts assailed him. His brain was telling him that 'Zane' was a traitor after all he had done. But something deep inside told Zack that 'Zane's behavior did not seem to fit the pattern. Zack was not sure what to believe.

"The point is, how do we know that you're not pretending?" Zack asked eyeing 'Zane' critically.

"Because I'm not!" 'Zane' yelled in frustration, looking back and forth between Max and Zack.

Max rolled her eyes. "Well, forgive us for not believing you."

"I think I know what we can do," Zack said thoughtfully. He had come to the conclusion that if 'Zane' was pretending, then he was a hell of a good actor. And at some point, he was bound to slip up.

But if 'Zane' was innocent, then leaving him here in the middle of nowhere would be like giving him a death sentence. Lydecker would no doubt retrieve him at some point, but when? Not to mention that when Lydecker got hold of him, Zack had no doubt that 'Zane' would be send to psy-ops for what Manticore would perceive as mission failure, never mind that 'Zane' had no idea what the mission was.

And if he had really lost his memory, what harm could he do to two X5s by himself?

Max's voice brought Zack out of his thoughts. "What are you thinking? What are we going to do?" she asked.

Zack shot her a suspicious look. Was she actually asking him for his opinion? That's definitely a first, he thought in amusement. Max would have normally just charge ahead with complete disregard of what he said, or maybe that was just when it came to her other siblings and her personal life.

Outwardly he said, "Trust me on this."

* * *

The motel they had found was small, but thankfully they had a double room available. The owner had looked at them suspiciously when Max came in, followed by Zack who had an unconscious 'Zane' in his arms. A few flirtatious lines from Max later, the owner had forgotten about the two males and had handed over the keys to her with a cheesy grin plastered on his face.

Max grinned inwardly when she noted the irritated look Zack had on his face at her antics. Whether or not he wanted to admit it, Max knew that she was getting under his skin. His response to her outrageous flirting with another man told her that much.

Unlocking the door and pushing it open, Max entered first followed by Zack and his bundle. Almost instantly, Max made a beeline for the bathroom, sighing appreciatively when she found that there was hot water in the taps.

"Great, leave me here alone with the enemy…" she heard Zack mutter over the sound of hot water hitting the bath tub. Grinning, she shook her head as she pushed the door shut. She knew that Zack could more than handle the unconscious transgenic. After all, he had been able to knock 'Zane' out cold even when 'Zane' had been fully conscious and fighting back.

When the water finally filled up, Max stripped and sank into the bath with a loud sigh. _If only she could do this everyday_, she thought wistfully, twirling her fingers in the hot water. But she knew that it was impossible. First, the utilities in the apartment she shared with Kendra was nowhere near functional, which meant that she had to manually boil buckets of water on the stove before she could actually have a bath. Sometimes it just was not worth the trouble.

Secondly, the way things were going now, Max had no idea when she would even sleep in a bed, let alone take a bath. She felt thankful that Zack had suggested that they stopped. Even with her shark DNA, she had finally felt the need to sleep, so she could not imagine how Zack must be feeling at the moment.

Max shook her head slightly, a small smile on her face. Outwardly, no one could tell that Zack had not slept for the last three days. He had been good at hiding it, but Max had seen the telltale signs. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and he was more tense than usual.

According to the interrogation lessons that Manticore had forced on them when they were kids, Zack's condition meant that his defences should be at a lower level. As she mulled over the thought, another one of Manticore's rules came back to her.

_Utilise whatever you can lay your hands on as a weapon to aid your mission…_

Max's eyes lit up and her smile grew. She wondered if it would be really, really bad of her to take advantage of the situation.

* * *

Zack decided that it was probably best if 'Zane' was restrained. Although his instinct told him that 'Zane' would not try to escape, Zack felt that it was safer for him and Max. Propping 'Zane' up into a chair, Zack pushed the chair to the window and tied 'Zane's wrist to it.

Damn, he had to stop thinking of the guy as 'Zane', Zack thought irritably as he inspected the bonds. The guy needed his own name. Zack supposed that he could discuss it with Max.

_What's taking her so long in the bathroom anyway?_ He thought as he glanced at his watch. She had been in there for half an hour already.

Just as Zack was about to call out to ask what she was doing, a sharp scream followed by a loud thud came from inside the bathroom. His heart-rate picked up at the sound, and without a second thought, he rushed across the room and shoved the bathroom door open.

Confronted with the sight before him, Zack's jaw went slack.

Max was sitting with her back against the side of the bathtub, her eyes glazed in what appeared to be pain as she clutched her ankle in her hand.

She was clad only in a skimpy towel.

Zack tried to make himself move. To get out of the bathroom before he did something stupid, but his feet seemed fastened to the floor. His eyes travelled up from Max's hands which were resting on her ankles, up her shapely legs…

To that skimpy towel which _just_ covered her apex of her thighs and her breast.

Zack swallowed hard as his mind wandered into a rather disturbing direction. Desperately, he tried to stop those thoughts before his entire mind was taken over.

"Zack?" her voice called out, thankfully yanking him out of his thoughts.

His eyes snapped to her questioning ones. Clearing his throat, he said gruffly, "You okay, Max? I thought I heard something." _Way to go, Zack. You sounded really unaffected there_, an irritating voice inside him mocked. _Carry on like that and she'll find out exactly how affected you are,_ it continued.

Looking pained, she said, "I slipped and I think I twisted my ankle."

Zack gritted his teeth, annoyed at himself. Max was hurting and he was having insane thoughts about what he wanted to do with those exposed bits of her. Forcing himself to keep his eyes above her neck and below her knees, skipping all the parts in between, he knelt down beside her.

Tentatively laying a hand on her right ankle, he pressed down on a few spots. He forcefully clamped down on his reaction as his fingers touched her skin and asked, "Does it hurt much here?"

Nodding, Max replied, "A little, but I'll survive. It's no big deal. I think I just need to rest for a while. Can you help me up?"

Zack tensed visibly. Helping her up would mean touching her. Zack did not know how long he could keep his reactions in check, especially considering how run down he felt. Resisting his feelings and his body's wayward reaction for Max was much more difficult than he thought it was going to be. But he knew that he had to keep his head in the game. He could not afford to let Max know how he felt. It was just not the right thing to do.

But effort it took to resist it might just kill him.

"Zack?" Max's voice interrupted his thoughts for the second time in minutes. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking up at him questioningly.

"Nothing," he said. _Stop it, Zack. She has no idea what's going on and you'll keep it that way,_ he scolded himself as he stood up.

Trying to keep from touching her too much, he held out his hands for hers. When she raised her hands, he did not avert his eyes fast enough to avoid seeing how her movement caused the towel to sag a little between her breasts. Zack stifled a groan.

Grasping her hands tightly, he pulled her up to her feet.

He realised with horror that he had applied too much force in the action when Max shot up and tumbled against him, pushing him back to the wall. His back flat against the wall, his arms went around Max to hold her steady. This time he could not keep his groan escaping as he felt Max's breasts pressing against him. He needed to get them out of this position before he embarrassed himself.

The apology which he had prepared to utter died prematurely on his lips when he looked down to see Max gazing at him with those melting chocolate brown eyes. His mouth went dry as his eyes travelled down to her very inviting parted lips.

Zack knew that what he wanted to do was foolish, but his mind seemed to have completely deserted his body.

Unable to help himself, he lowered his head slowly until he could feel Max's soft warm breath on his lips. The conflicting emotions inside him continued to war, but when his lips touched hers, everything else faded away. All he could think of was how good she felt against him.

Deepening the kiss, he snaked his arms around her to pull her closer. She responded like a dream, he thought in awe as he rubbed circles against her bare back. Her soft moans sent tingles up his spine. He felt so drugged with arousal that he could not form a single coherent thought.

A loud thud and a series of muted giggles coming from the corridor outside their room jarred him rudely out of his haze. Eyes glazed with desire, he looked down at Max to see her looking equally dazed. Then slowly, his brain began to function.

And his panic began to set in.

_Shit, what have I done?_ He thought frantically as he tried to maintain a calm facade. _Now, you're in for it, Zack. When Max realises what you've done, she's going to hate you!_

"Uh…Max, that's… What I mean to say is…" he stumbled on his words as he tried to avoid looking at Max. Taking a deep breath, he tried again, "Look, I'm sorry. I don't know how that happened."

Giving him an enigmatic look, Max's lips curved into a smile. "It's no biggie, Zack. Don't worry about it," she said softly.

Zack stilled at her words, and then frowned as he took in her expression. _Why did she look like that? So…satisfied?_ His internal alarm bells went off. She looked exactly like she had looked just before she got on behind him on her bike earlier that day. _What was she up to_, he thought suspiciously.

Rearranging his face into some resemblance of calm, he asked carefully, "You're not mad at me?"

Max shook her head slowly. "Nope."

Zack was confused at her apparent nonchalance. "Why not?"

Max stared meaningfully at him. "Why do you think, Zack?"

Zack's breath caught in his throat. _Was Max flirting with him? Max? Flirting? What's going on? Or maybe he was just seeing things. _Outwardly he said in a guarded tone, "Max, what are you doing?"

She raised an eyebrow and gave him a cheeky grin. "Just had to check something out."

Zack could not believe that Max practically admitted doing it on purpose. From her reaction to the entire thing, she was just thinking of this as some sort of game, no doubt. A small twinge of hurt lodged itself in his chest. Not wanting to analyse too much why he had felt hurt instead of relieved, Zack compressed his lips in a tight line. There was no way he was going to play this game with her.

Sternly, he said, "This is not funny, Max. You cannot play around with these sorts of things. Especially not with me. I'm your CO!"

"Who says I'm playing?" Max said seriously as she trailed a finger down his chest, her eyes not leaving his.

Zack caught her hand before it could reach his waist, taking a deep breath to tamp down on his desire which flared again at her touch. "I'm not joking. Stop it."

"Is that an order?"

"Yes, it is!"

"In which case, I think I'll just ignore it," Max said, her eyes twinkling as she pressed herself closer to him.

Zack groaned. She was going to be death of him. Forcefully holding her away from him, he said, "Max, don't do this."

She gave him an assessing look before stepping away from him, not saying another word.

Zack suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of loss as she walked to the door. "Max?" he called out softly. _Damn, was she upset? Did she think that he had rejected her?_

_Who wouldn't? You DID reject her,_ the annoying voice in his head pointed out.

Looking at him over her shoulders, she said, "Yeah?"

"It's for the best. Things are already complicated as it is," Zack said, trying to explain.

"Well, I suppose I should just forget it and move on," she said, walking out of the door without another backward glance.

Staring at the empty doorway, Zack frowned at her choice of words. _Move on?_

Move on to what?

Or move on to _who?_

Zack groaned, hitting his palm against the bathroom wall in frustration.

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: I don't know about you guys, but I'm beginning to feel very sorry for Zack! Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: A big thank you to all those who reviewed! This chapter is slightly longer than usual, but I hope you'll still enjoy it!

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 10**

(by elle6778)

Max could barely suppress her grin as she walked out of the bathroom, clad only in the white towel. _It was working_, she thought gleefully. She knew she had taken a risk in coming on so strongly to Zack, but she had been hoping that if he had been interested, he would respond in some way. And boy did he respond.

She touched her fingers to her lips, which was still slightly swollen from the kiss they had shared. Never once she had imagined that a kiss would be so arousing. Her past experiences paled in comparison with those few minutes she had spent in the bathroom with Zack.

There was definitely something special there, she thought as she sat on the bed.

The sudden chill against her skin alerted her to the fact that she was still clad in only a towel. She had taken off her clothes earlier in the bathroom. And Zack was still in there.

Standing up, she padded back across the room, absently noticing that 'Zane' was still unconscious. Just before she got to the bathroom, Zack emerged. She searched his face for any telltale signs of his emotions, but to her disappointment, his mask was already in place.

"Going to get dressed," she said by way of explanation as she brushed past him, purposely making sure that their skin came into contact. His sharp intake of breath at her action did not escape her notice. But before he could say anything, she closed the door behind her.

A few minutes later, dressed in her tank top and her pants, she stepped out of the bathroom and headed towards Zack and 'Zane'.

"How long do you think Zane's going to be out?" she asked.

Zack shrugged. "He should be awake pretty soon. I didn't hit him that hard. Doesn't really matter if he's out though, easier to handle. And by the way, I think we should stop calling him Zane. He's not Zane."

Max went to the unconscious transgenic. Her hand reached out to brush his blonde hair back. She knew that he was not Zane, but she felt closer to him than her own brother, who she had not seen for a decade. Whoever this guy was, Max did not think he had anything to do with Lydecker's plans. However, she could not be sure. Sighing, she said, "Yeah, we need to think of a name for him."

"Maybe we should just stick to his designation, once I find out what it is. After all, it wasn't as if he's part of our unit," Zack said with a small frown.

Max gave him an incredulous look, her hand stilling on 'Zane's forehead. "I think he should have his own name. We can't be calling him by his designation out here."

"Once I get him to tell us what he knows, he'll be on his own. That's hardly enough time to warrant a name. I have no intention of exposing any of us to Manticore," Zack said sharply.

"I'm not saying that we should expose ourselves. But what harm can a name do?" Max asked. She felt that Zack was being unreasonable about the entire name issue. It was only a name after all!

Zack gave her an uncompromising look. "It's the attachment associated with it that is the problem. We cannot afford to get attached."

Max stilled as she considered his words. Somehow she had a feeling that he was not talking about 'Zane' anymore. It sounded to her as if Zack was trying to tell in his own convoluted way her that they could not get attached.

Sighing, she went straight to the point and said, "Zack, this is not about him, is it?"

"What else could it be?" Zack asked, his eyes not meeting hers.

"Us."

Zack exhaled loudly. Sounding exasperated, he said, "Look, I told you just now. We just can't do it. It's not right."

"Why is it not right? We're not in Manticore anymore. I thought that was the whole point of escaping. To find something better. The way I see it, nothing really bad would come out of what happened back in the bathroom. By the way, that was quite a kiss, don't you think?" Max said to him with a grin.

Zack groaned.

"Or was it that bad for you?" she asked mischievously.

"It's not that…" he said, faltering.

Max interrupted before he could continue. "Anyway, I don't know what you're so worried about. I told you earlier that I'll just forget the entire thing and move on. So I don't think you really need to keep pushing me away."

Zack's head snapped up as he tensed. "You said that just now. What was that supposed to mean?"

"What?" she asked, unsure what he had meant by his question.

"Moving on," Zack replied.

_Oh that!_ Max thought as she resisted the urge to grin. Outwardly, she shrugged nonchalantly. "A girl's got to move on, not much use in sticking around where she's not wanted. It's a big world out there," she said casually, trying hard to keep from laughing at the pained expression that had entered Zack's face before it hardened into an indifferent mask.

"Max, it's not a good idea for you to do that. Any emotional entanglement is bad news for us transgenics, don't you get that?" he told her in a hard voice.

She knew that Zack really believe what he was saying, however, there was no way he could persuade her to think the same way. "Actually no. I don't get that. Life's too short for us to just throw these things you call phoney sentimentality away. If I do that, I might as well be back in Manticore," Max said, her playful mood evaporating.

"Damn it, Max! I'm serious!" he snapped, obviously irritated. "How could you even say that you might as well be back in Manticore after all that we have gone through? After finally finding our freedom."

"That's it, Zack. Freedom. I thought that we ran away from Manticore so that we don't have to abide by all those stupid rules, and so that we can think for ourselves. Live for ourselves."

"We can do that without all those emotional stuff," Zack insisted.

"Don't you see, Zack? Being out here looking over our shoulders all the time, forming shallow relationships and being always scared of something? You call that being free? What's the fun in that?"

"Life's not all fun, Max," he said stiffly.

Max rolled her eyes. "Only if you stop it from being so," she pointed out.

"Max, I can't force you to do what you don't want to do. But I'm planning to stick to what I feel is the best approach to this," Zack stated with a tone of finality.

Giving up for now, Max sighed and said, "Whatever." She knew that there was not much point in continuing that line of conversation, seeing the non-receptive mood Zack was currently in.

Flicking a glance at the still unconscious 'Zane', she said, "Well, like it or not, I'm going to give him a name, since we don't even know what's his designation."

"Fine," Zack said shortly.

After a few seconds of deliberation, she announced to a completely disinterested Zack, "I think we should call him Sky."

Zack raised an eyebrow. "Sky?"

Max grinned. "Yeah, blue eyes and all, you see."

"I see," Zack said slowly, looking unconvinced. "I thank the Blue Lady that you were not the one who had named us," he muttered.

Offended, Max said, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Sky it is then."

Suddenly feeling very tired, Max yawned. "I think I'm going to go catch some sleep," she said, looking at the double bed longingly. Then suddenly a thought occurred to her, and the corner of her lips twitched. Sh wondered how Zack would take it.

Oblivious to her thoughts, Zack said, "I'll take the first watch," and walked tiredly towards the metal chair opposite Sky.

"Oh, come on, Zack. He's all tied up. It's not as if he could escape without waking us up anyway. You need to sleep," Max said.

Zack seemed undecided. Max knew that he was weighing the risk between sleeping and risking her advances against staying awake and being completely useless the next day, because Sky was unlikely to be a threat.

"Zack, you haven't slept in days. How are you supposed to continue to function?" Max pushed.

"We can take turns watching," he suggested.

Max gave him a stubborn look. "Don't even think of it! Even with shark DNA, I need a full night's sleep once in a while. And that's tonight. It's up to you. I'm going to sleep now," she said walking towards the bed and sat at the edge, her back towards Zack. She proceeded to remove her pants, grinning inwardly in anticipation of Zack's response at her action.

He did not disappoint. "What are you doing?" he said in an uncomfortable tone.

Turning to look at him over her shoulders, she replied, "Making myself comfortable." Clad only in her lacy panties and black tank top, she burrowed under the covers with a sigh.

Within minutes, her breath evened and she fell into deep sleep.

She did not even stir when the bed dipped beside her an hour later.

* * *

Zack was enveloped in the most contented feeling he had ever had in ages. Reluctant to wake up, his eyes remained shut. He was in a soft, warm bed and his body was completely relaxed after the good night's sleep. A nice warm pillow was in his arms. 

_Warm pillow?_

Zack's eyes snapped open to find his vision obstructed by a mass of thick silky dark hair. He froze and stifled a groan. Sometime in the middle of the night he must have rolled over. Because right now, he was spooned tight against Max's back with his arms wrapped tight around her. She was lying on one of his arms and he had a hand splayed against her bare belly where her tank top had hitched up. His legs were thrown over her bare ones, and he offered up a silent thanks at that fact that he had not removed his pants before jumping into bed, just his shirt.

And to make things worse, his body had suddenly decided to recognise the fact that there was a female body pressed intimately against it. It did not help that the other one of his hands were resting against her breast. Zack cursed silently as he unsuccessfully tried to clamp down on his reaction.

Thoughts of the scene in the bathroom last night came unbidden to him. He had thought then how soft the skin on her back was, but now he realised the skin on her belly was even softer. Blood surged from his head to pool uncomfortably where he did not want it to go.

_Stop it, Zack,_ he admonished himself, feeling irritated at his own reaction. At the rate he was going, it would definitely be embarrassing when Max woke up. He wondered how he could extract himself without jolting her awake.

He should have stuck to his initial decision to stay awake to keep watch of Sky. But the chair had been uncomfortable, and the lure of the bed had been too much for his sleep-deprived mind to resist. He had promised himself that he would get up before Max did.

Right now, he had this incredible urge to bury his head in her soft hair. A small voice inside him told him that he should take advantage of the fact that Max was still asleep to do so. It was definitely something he would not do if she had been awake.

_No,_ he scolded himself vehemently. He was not going to do it.

His inner voice prodded him; _Come on,_ _just one time, Zack. What's the harm?_

_Just once…_

Promising himself that this was going to be a one-time indulgence, he nuzzled his face into her hair, breathing in its subtle perfume of vanilla mixed with something uniquely Max. He felt himself growing light-headed at her scent. Unconsciously his hand tightened against her belly and her breast, moving in small circles.

A soft, contented moan issued from Max made him freeze movements.

Appalled at what he had allowed himself to do, Zack jerked away from her abruptly. And then he swore silently. He waited with bated breath for Max to wake up, but after a few minutes of silence, he realised with relief that she was still asleep.

His eyes travelled to the window; it was still early, the sun was barely up yet. Resigning himself to the fact that he could not extract himself without waking her up, Zack decided that the best course of action was to go back to sleep.

* * *

Three days had passed, but Sky was still unconscious. Zack was genuinely getting concerned and had moved him to the bed. Even though he was still suspicious of Sky, Zack also knew that in the past week, he had developed a fondness of the other transgenic. 

He had not bothered to restrain the unconscious transgenic this time, figuring that he would be relatively weak when he finally decided to wake up. Both Max and him had been taking turns to watch over Sky, both of them hoping that Sky would wake up soon. His vital signs were healthy, which made it even stranger that Sky had shown no indication of waking up.

Now it was Zack's turn again to keep an eye on Sky while Max went out to get hold of some new clothes for them. The clothes that they had on for the last few days were beginning to look as if they were fit for the dumpters.

Zack closed his eyes as the image of Max flashed in front of him. It was getting harder and harder for him to control his attraction towards Max. Their kiss and the time they had spent snuggled in the bed three days ago had made it even worse. Now that he knew how she tasted and how her skin felt like, he found himself craving more, much to his annoyance.

He did not know whether or not it was a good thing that Max seemed to have given up on her advances towards him. Since he had woken up in the bed alone that morning, Max had not attempted to come within touching distance unless ithad been absolutelynecessary.

It was as if she really had moved on.

Zack knew that he should be relieved that things turned out this way, but somehow, something inside him balked at the idea of them drifting apart. He had seen the way she acted towards the pizza deliveryman who had delivered their food yesterday, flirting shamelessly with the deluded idiot and the first thing that had come to Zack's mind at that time had been to kick the living daylights out of the other man. The pizza deliveryman had not been the only incident which had set his teeth on edge. The man at the motel reception seemed to be just as smitten with Max.

Zack was not stupid and he did not make it a habit to lie to himself. Although he did not want to get involved in all these emotional stuff, he knew that it was too late for him to try to remove himself from it now. He hated the fact that he could not control it. The signs were clearly there for him to see.

He was jealous, of all things.

The sound of laughter filtered from the hallway outside into the bedroom. Zack's ears pricked up when he recognised it as Max's. Scowling, he wondered who she was so happily talking and laughing with. The now familiar surge of possessiveness and jealousy swept through him, making him even more annoyed at himself.

He had reached the door before he knew it. Yanking the door open, he found himself staring into a surprised pair of chocolate brown eyes. His eyes travelled past Max to land on the young man, dark haired man behind her.

"Zack, hi!" Max greeted cheerfully. Then gesturing behind her, she said, "This is Rick. He's one of the assistants from the store I've gone to. Rick has offered to help me with the bags."

"Zack. Pleased to meet you," Rick greeted cordially, his confused eyes shifting back and forth between Zack and Max. Obviously, he had no idea that Max was actually sharing a room with another guy.

Obviously, Rick had thought that he was going to get lucky with Max, Zack thought in disgust.

Zack gave Rick a curt nod of acknowledgement. Extending his hands out, Zack said coldly, "We can handle the bags now." His eyes bored into the other man's, wordlessly telling him in the universal male language to back off.

Looking rather uncomfortable, and slightly fearful, at the tone of Zack's voice and the expression on his face, Rick just nodded and dropped the bags in Zack's arms. Turning to Max, he said, "Well, I'll see you sometime. Look me up when you're in the area again, okay?"

Smiling, Max said, "Sure. Thanks for your help."

"It's no big deal," Rick said, walking away.

Turning back to Zack, Max raised a questioning brow. "So what was that about?"

Feigning ignorance, Zack replied, "What?"

Rolling her eyes, she elaborated impatiently, "The alpha male act, what else. You just scared the poor boy away for no reason."

"You're seeing things, Max," he said shortly. There was no way he was going to admit how pissed off he was at seeing the way Rick had looked at Max.

Resting her hands on her hips, she said, "Right. Try again."

Zack groaned inwardly. He should have known that Max would not let this go until he had given her a satisfactory answer. Sighing heavily, he said, "Look, I just don't want our security compromised. Bringing strangers to our room strikes me as being tactically unwise."

"Will you just loosen up a bit? Rick hardly strikes me as someone with contacts in Manticore," she said.

"Yeah, but…" his words were cut short at the sound of a groan from the bed.

In an instant, both Max and Zack were at Sky's side.

Max sat beside Sky, lightly tapping his cheeks. "Hey, time to wake up," she said softly.

Sky groaned and cracked his eyes open. Blinking, he flicked his eyes back and forth between Zack and Max. "Zack? Max?" he croaked weakly.

"You've been out for three days," Zack told him, standing to one side of the bed. His eyes belied his worry as he scanned Sky's pale complexion.

Sky nodded and sat up with Max's help, swaying slightly as he did so. Then all of a sudden, his eyes glazed over as he stared unseeingly straight ahead. It was as if he had frozen in some form of shock. It looked unnerving.

"Hey, what's going on?" Max yelled, shaking him.

Zack laid a restraining hand on Max, urging her away from Sky. He did not like the blank look in Sky's eyes. It reminded him too much of Manticore. "Max, stand back," he instructed warily.

Max looked as if she was about to argue, but thankfully she held her tongue and stood up. Standing beside Zack, they both watched apprehensively as Sky remained that way for several minutes.

Then suddenly the spell broke. Blinking rapidly, the haze in Sky's eyes cleared. But the expression on his face was not what Zack had expected to see. It was a mix of realisation and shock.

His eyes pinned on Zack and Max, Sky stated flatly, "You two are the '09-ers."

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: 'Zane' is now 'Sky' and we're going to find out what happened to him in the next chapter. If I can fit everything in, the next chapter is going to be the last one, no promises though – it may still hit chapter 12. Please review and let me know what you think! I really love your reviews!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: A great big hug to all of you who had reviewed – you made my day! Thank you so much!

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 11**

(by elle6778)

His eyes pinned on Zack and Max, Sky stated flatly, "You two are the '09-ers." He studied Max and Zack with a mixture of wariness and uncertainty.

Max gave him a droll look. "Tell us something we don't know," she said, resting her hands on her hips. So what if they were '09-ers. They had been out of Manticore so long, so why should Sky care?

"So, I take it that you remember who you are now?" Zack asked, his eyebrows raised in query.

Sky looked at them, his warring emotions displayed in his eyes. After a moment, he nodded abruptly and said, "Yeah."

Impatient, Max asked, "So? What are you waiting for? A written questionnaire?"

Sky looked confused at her words. "Huh?"

Max rolled her eyes and turned to Zack. "I think you've shaken a few screws loose when you knocked him out."

Sky gave her an offended look.

"What's your designation?" Zack asked, sounding every inch the CO that he had been bred to be.

"X5-206, sir," Sky replied crisply before he could stop himself, obviously falling back into his ingrained Manticore training. He glared at Zack accusingly when he realised what he had done.

Zack waved a dismissive hand at Sky's formal tone. "Just tell us what's going on, Sky."

"Sky?"

"Yeah, that's your new name. Can't have two Zanes running about so you got yourself a new name," Max explained to him.

"So?" Zack prompted impatiently.

Sky exhaled loudly. Getting off the bed, he walked to the window, staring out into the street which was bathed in a reddish hue of the setting sun. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke, "Last thing I remember was some evaluation in psy-ops. Regular stuff before deployment. I think it was a psychological test. They didn't tell me if I made the mission or not at that time. Next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital."

"That's all you can remember?" Max asked incredulously. She was not sure if she believed him. It all seemed rather vague. And Sky seemed a bit more reserved compared to a few days ago. Obviously he had remembered something which he did not want to tell them.

"What else do you want to know?" Sky snapped back, his eyes flashing.

Max recoiled at his tone. This was no longer the easy-going transgenic she had known. This Sky was very much a Manticore soldier. Except for the evasive look in his eyes, which would never pass Manticore's inspection.

"What was that mission you were down for?" Zack asked.

Sky regarded them cautiously before saying, "It's confidential."

Max made an exasperated sound. "Oh, come off it! It's probably something to do with capturing us, right?" Why else would Sky be reluctant to tell them about it?

Sky remained silent.

"Is that right?" Zack asked tightly.

"You know as well as I do that it's against protocol to discuss the specifics of a mission," Sky replied, his jaw set in a stubborn line.

Max could see Zack's body tense as his level of alertness increased. She could guess what Zack was thinking. Now that Sky had regained his memory and remembered his mission, what was to say that Sky would not resume his mission? Unlike the '09-ers, Sky had been in Manticore all these years and had been trained to place their mission objectives as the priority. It was a shame, really, because she kind of enjoyed Sky's company prior to this.

"I see…" Zack said slowly as his eyes searched an uncomfortable looking Sky. "Well, since you've picked your side, I suppose there's no need for us to remain together."

Sky just looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"Zack?" Max said in a worried tone. Zack sounded as if he was just going to leave Sky behind. Max supposed that it was the logical thing to do, considering that they could never be sure where Sky's loyalty lies. However, it did not stop her from feeling a bit sad.

His voice hard, Zack confirmed Max's thoughts, "Sky's not one of us. We can't risk him betraying us to Manticore." Turning away from Sky, Zack started picking his things up from around the room, stuffing them into his rucksack.

With wide eyes, Max looked uncertainly between Zack and Sky. Then sighing in resignation, she followed Zack's example.

When he was done, Zack said crisply, "Let's go, Max."

Her eyes flicked momentarily to Sky before they landed on Zack, and Max started to say, "Are you sure…"

"Yes, Max. He can't be trusted," Zack said adamantly, purposely avoiding eye contact with Sky.

Sky stood watching them silently as they exited the room.

Shutting the door with a final click behind them, Max and Zack missed the look of longing in Sky's face.

* * *

Lydecker kept his eyes fixed on Renfro's in a silent battle of stares.

He wanted to tell her to quit that annoying tapping of her pen against the desk between them, but he refused to let Renfro think that she had gained the upper hand in their 'discussions' today. He could hardly believe that the woman had the nerve to come barging into his office demanding to know what was happening to Operation C-206.

This operation was his alone and intended to keep it that way. Renfro could just go to hell as far as he was concerned.

Lydecker had known that one of his kids had been trying to find the others by using Vogelsang, namely X5-452. And that was when he had worked up a plan to lure X5-452 back to Manticore.

The transgenic, X5-206, the twin of one of the 09-ers, had been brought in. His initial mission was to pretend to be hurt and then ensuring that his identity was exposed to attract the attention of X5-452. As a back-up, if Lydecker failed to catch them in time, this guy was to spy for Lydecker. Identity wise, he was supposed to have lost his memories from the injuries he had.

Lydecker's only fear had been that X5-206 might blow his cover. The initial assessment of his profile told Manticore that he harboured some hatred towards the '09-ers due to the extensive time he had spent in psy-ops for evaluation following the escape in '09. So Lydecker had decided to go a step further. He had ensured that X5-206 had no recollection of Manticore. The tracer he had implanted in the transgenic had been one with multi-purpose. The tracer had been coated with a solidified serum which would release a certain dosage of memory suppressant each day. The mix had also included a DNA modificator which temporarily force the transgenic's system to display his clone, X5-205's barcode.

Lydecker had expected X5-452 to turn up, but what he had not expected was that she had reinforcement; another male transgenic. None of the soldiers had been able to identify the male. Lydecker himself had wondered who it was.

The fact that he had lost track of not only the two '09-ers, but also X5-206, irritated Lydecker to no end. When the tracer had stopped transmitting a few days ago, Lydecker knew that he was in trouble. It meant that 206's cover had been blown. In addition to that, Lydecker did not know how 206's system would react to the loss of the memory suppressant which coated the tracer. The transgenic would no doubt go into some sort of withdrawal. The only hope Lydecker had was that once 206 regained his memory, he would be smart enough to contact Manticore.

But it had not happened. Too many days had passed, and yet Lydecker had not heard anything from 206. He hoped that the transgenic was still alive. It would be disastrous if Manticore had lost another transgenic. Lydecker's shaky position in Manticore would no doubt become even worse. And it did not help that Renfro had decided that it was time she stepped in to deal with his 'failure'.

Renfro's voice brought him back to the present. "So, Deck, what's your excuse this time?" she asked with a snide smile.

Gritting his teeth, Lydecker replied, "I don't need an excuse. We're waiting for 206 to make contact. Once he does, then we can re-evaluate the mission parameters."

Renfro raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Are you sure he'll make contact? It had been what? Four days? Four days since he disappeared off our radar?"

"He could be suffering from withdrawal brought on by the memory suppressant," Lydecker said tightly.

Renfro shook her head, a small smile hovering over her lips. "He's an X5, Deck. It should not take him that long to flush out the residues from his system."

"It's an untested substance. We have no idea how long it would take," Lydecker said, fighting to stop himself from wiping that snide look off Renfro's overly painted face with his fists.

"Well, whatever it is, the committee believes that it would be beneficial for me to step in and take command of this mission, you'll be glad to hear," Renfro said, her eyes gleaming with triumph.

Lydecker glared at her. "Yeah, I'm ecstatic. But you can tell the committee to go to hell. This is MY mission and those X5s out there are MY kids, so hands off."

"Tsk…tsk… You have to remain impartial, Deck. You're too close to it all. It clouds the mind."

Lydecker snorted. "I'm not giving up command."

"You have no choice."

* * *

Lost in their own thoughts on Sky, Max and Zack had spent a good part of the night riding before Zack realised that they urgently needed to refuel. Unfortunately it did not look as if there was much chance of them finding a fuel station.

Signalling his concerns to Max, Zack continued riding, watching out for anything which resembled a place where they could get fuel. He cursed himself for not thinking of it earlier when they had passed one. His mind had been on Sky.

The last thing Zack wanted to feel was remorse. But for some reason, the feeling had been clinging on to him ever since they had left Sky in the motel room. Zack knew he had done the right thing, considering that they did not know the direction of Sky's loyalties.

So why did he feel so bad about it?

Zack sighed and shook his head in an attempt to clear his doubts. It did not serve any purpose to dwell on it. He had made his decision and he intended to stick to it. At least Max had not protested as much this time when he had told her earlier that they were heading for San Francisco. Come to think of it, Max had been suspiciously respectful of his decisions these last few days, Zack thought with a frown.

A glow of light in the distance caught his attention.

Before he could say anything, Max yelled over the wind to him, "Hey, Zack, there's something in front of us. Maybe we could get some fuel there."

"Okay," Zack replied, instantly speeding up.

A few minutes later, they found themselves in front of a bar. A few bikers were standing outside the bar, watching their arrival with interest.

Zack dismounted next to Max. Shaking his head, he said in a tired voice, "Doesn't look like we'll get much in the way of fuel here."

"Well, since we're already here, I think I could do with a beer," Max said brightly, her eyes pinned to the entrance of the bar.

"We need to move on, Max. We're already close to San Francisco," Zack objected, not liking the look of the place or the bikers who were now ogling Max openly ever since she got off her bike.

"Aw, Zack, it's just one beer. Come on. Anyway it's not like we could go much further without fuel. Maybe someone here could tell us where to get some," Max said persuasively.

Seeing the sense in her words, Zack finally said in resignation, "Alright. Just one beer. And maybe they have some food as well."

Max grinned and gave him a small hug, not noticing when he stiffened at her touch as he tried to keep himself from responding. When she let go, his body protested at the loss of her warmth, but she was already halfway to the door.

_Get a grip, soldier! It's just a hug_, he chastised himself irritably and proceeded to follow her into the bar. The bikers nudged each other and wolf-whistled as Max passed them on her way in. Zack's eyes narrowed, clenching his fists at his sides to keep them from grabbing the bikers. He had this incredible urge to smash their faces into the ground. As he passed the group of bikers, one of them called out.

"Nice piece of ass you've got yourself there, man," the biker leered as his friends laughed.

Zack gave them a threatening look. "As you said, she's mine."

The biker held his hand up. Even through his alcohol-induced mind, he could sense the threat in Zack's posture. "Hey, chill, man. I didn't mean no harm."

Zack relaxed slightly, but he was mortified at his over-reaction. Giving the biker a curt nod, he walked in after Max.

The music blasted straight into his face the minute he stepped in. The bar was dimly lit, masking the actual appearance of the aging décor and stale cigarette smoke hovered in the air. The place was not too crowded, hence it was not hard for him to see that Max was already at the bar, talking to the barkeeper. The barkeeper was obviously having a good time talking to her, Zack noted irritably. This flirting of Max's was getting out of hand.

When he stepped up next to her, he tossed a glare in the direction of the barkeeper, who apparently had enough sense of self-preservation to move away from Max. Oblivious to his interaction with the other man, Max turned around and handed him a bottle of beer. Grinning widely, she toasted him and took a long swallow of her beer, sighing appreciatively.

"Aren't you glad we're here?" Max asked over the music.

Zack nodded as he gulped a mouthful of the beer, feeling the alcohol hitting his bloodstream. "Did you ask about the fuel?"

Max shook her head. "You ask. I need the washroom," she said, walking off in the direction of the small neon sign which indicated her destination.

Turning to the bar, he signalled for the barkeeper. The young man walked over, looking nervous.

Zack forced a smile onto his face. "Do you know where we can get some fuel?" Zack asked, watching with amusement as a look of relief crossed the man's face.

Eagerly, he replied, "Yeah. About two miles down the road, there's a shop which does motors."

"Any chance that it might be open now?"

The barkeeper shook his head. "You've got to wait until noon tomorrow. That's when they open. Sunday, you see."

"I see," Zack said, frowning, wondering what they should do for the next fourteen hours.

Noting the look of displeasure on Zack's face, the barkeeper offered, "We have rooms upstairs if you want to stay overnight."

Zack sighed. He supposed they could do that. "Yeah, do you have two rooms?" he asked, not daring to risk another incident with Max. Not that she would do anything anymore, considering that she had 'moved on'. He was more worried of what he might do to her.

The barkeeper gave him a puzzled look, obviously wondering why he needed two rooms instead of one. Wisely he kept his thoughts to himself and said, "We've got quite a number of vacant rooms. So yes, you can have two rooms if you like."

Zack nodded absently. Turning around, he scanned the place for Max. His eyes found her just outside the washroom, talking to a good-looking leather clad biker. Considering the way she was laughing at the jackass's comments, Zack would say that she was enjoying his company. Zack's lips thinned as he saw the jackass snake an arm around Max. He felt his blood boil when it looked as if Max was in no hurry to remove the offending limb. _What was Max doing, allowing him to touch her like that?_

Zack stifled the urge to growl.

He knew that Max was 'moving on' and his mind told him to keep out of her affairs. But he did not like the types she was going for. Could she not see what type of guy that biker was? The guy probably picked up girls all over the state. Had she no sense of self-preservation at all?

Well, since she did not see fit to detach the biker's hand from her, Zack decided that he would do it for her. It was his responsibility after all to ensure that she was safe, he told himself. He ignored the inner voice which mocked; _Yeah, right! Tell yourself that, Zack._

Just as he was about to stride towards the couple, the barkeeper's voice halted him.

"Hey, you need to fill in this form," the young man said, pushing a small slip of paper towards him.

Irritated at the delay, Zack quickly scribbled down a fake name and address.

"Here're your keys," the barkeeper said.

Zack looked down at the keys thoughtfully and then said, "On second thoughts, one twin room will be fine. We don't need two rooms." At least that way, he could be sure that Max did not end up with a night visitor in her room.

The barkeeper smirked knowingly at him. Reaching under the bar, he took out another key. "No twins. But we have a double if that's okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Zack replied shortly and tossed the required amount of cash on the table. Grabbing the key impatiently, he made his way towards Max and the biker to break up the happy couple.

* * *

Max laughed, only half listening to the biker standing close to her. Her hands itched to remove the biker's slimy hand from her shoulders, but she knew that leaving it there would add to the effect she was trying to achieve. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted the murderous look on Zack's face as he made his way towards her. She grinned inwardly.

"…and so, when I told him what I did for a living, he just went pale and backed off immediately," Dan, the biker continued.

"So what happened next?" she asked, noticing that Zack had almost reached them. She forced herself to keep her eyes on the biker.

"He didn't dare to come back. At least, not while I was there," Dan finished smugly. "Say, what are you doing after this, sweetheart?"

"Umm…" Max started.

"She has a prior engagement with me," a terse voice interrupted.

Max pasted an expression of surprise on her face as she raised her eyes to Zack, pretending not to notice the glare he shot at Dan.

"Hey, Zack. Zack, this is Dan," Max introduced cheerfully.

The biker gave Zack a look of annoyance. Max wondered if he was too drunk or just too dense to notice the dangerous gleam in Zack's eyes.

"Prior engagement?" Dan parroted, and then turned to Max. "You can always change your mind about your 'prior engagement', you know."

Zack stepped closer, yanking Max out of the other guy's arms. Max stifled a grin of satisfaction when Zack wrapped a possessive arm around her.

With an indignant look on his face, the biker said, "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Zack did not bother to answer; he just gave Dan a challenging look which spoke volumes. Max was beginning to worry. Getting Zack jealous was one thing. Getting him into a fight with a relatively innocent Ordinary was another matter.

"Zack, leave it," Max warned. "We don't want to attract attention," she said in a voice so low that only someone with transgenic hearing could hear it.

Thankfully, Dan seemed to give up. Glaring at Zack, he turned around and walked away, much to Max's relief.

When she looked up at Zack, she was unsurprised to see that his face was set in a stony expression. Max wondered if she had gone too far this time in trying to provoke a reaction from him.

"Finish your beer and come with me. We need to talk," he said in a clipped tone.

_Uh, oh, this doesn't sound good at all_, Max thought apprehensively.

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: So much for trying to finish it by this chapter, lol! But I think I might be able to achieve it by the next chapter, fingers crossed. Please review and let me know what you think of the developments!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: A great big hug to all of you who had reviewed – you made my day! Thank you so much! This chapter is a bit shorter, I'm having trouble writing in amidst all the pre-Christmas parties I have to attend!

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 12**

(by elle6778)

Zack was struggling to keep his annoyance in check as they walked up the stairs to the room he had secured them for the night. He did not know if he was more annoyed at himself for getting them a room to share or his reaction to those sleazy men flocking all over Max everywhere they went.

But he knew that he had to talk to Max about her recent behaviour. It was not even tactical exposure this time, it was much more basic than that. It was just common sense. The girl was putting herself in danger without realising it, he thought with a frown.

_Yeah, Zack, nothing to do with your jealousy and possessiveness at all,_ his inner voice mocked disbelievingly.

Zack's annoyance rose another notch.

When they had reached the two doors on the second floor, Zack turned to the left door and inserted the key given to him by the barkeeper. A twist and a push later, the door opened, giving them access to a sparsely furnished, but surprisingly clean room. The only furnishings were a double bed, a cupboard, two chairs and a small table.

Dumping his rucksack on a chair beside the bed, Zack turned to face Max, wondering how he should start.

Max looked back at him with a questioning gaze. "So, what do you need to talk about?" she asked.

Zack took a deep breath, knowing that however he started the conversation, it would not end pretty. "Max, I know that you don't appreciate my intrusion into what you choose to do in your life. But what I saw in the last few days made me wonder where all your training had gone," he said quietly.

"What do you mean, Zack? I don't remember landing us into any trouble," Max said, looking offended.

"That's not what I see, Max. You could have easily gotten into a messy situation with the biker guy downstairs," Zack snapped out before he could stop himself.

"Is that what all this is about? The biker guy?" she asked, an incredulous look on her face.

"I can't tell you who you can and cannot get close to, but even you could see what sort of guy he is. Come on, Max. He probably picks up different girls every night," Zack said.

"You're right, Zack. You can't tell me how to run my life that way. And for the record, I was just _talking_ to the guy. It's not like I was going to jump into bed with him anytime soon. What kind of girl do you think I am?" Max said defensively.

"What if he decides to force you?"

Max snorted. "Zack, I can throw him across the room with one hand if I'd wanted to. I think I can handle those sorts of situations. Genetic engineering does wonders for a girl," she said with a grin.

"It's not funny, Max. It could have gotten ugly. He's not alone, Max. He has a gang of friends waiting to take their turns," Zack said harshly, trying to knock some sense into her.

Max rolled her eyes. "Zack, you know as well as I do that we're more than able to deal with more than one Ordinary at a time. So what is this really all about, huh?" she shot back.

_It's about those guys who seem to surround you at all time,_ his inner voice yelled. Zack scowled. "I'm just trying to watch out for you, Max. You need to be more careful. Is that so hard to understand?"

"Watching out for me?" Max repeated disbelievingly. Then raising an eyebrow, she continued, "Or jealous?"

Zack froze. His mind whirred with the implication of her words. Had he been that obvious? Outwardly he said in an admirably level tone, "What are you talking about, Max? I don't have anything to be jealous of."

"Exactly, because you don't do these sorts of phoney emotional stuff, right?" Max said with a smirk.

Zack narrowed his eyes. What was that supposed to mean? He knew that he had told her something along those lines, but what was she trying to tell him now? That he was cold and unemotional?

_Yeah, Zack, that's what you normally lead them all to believe, isn't it?_

Zack scowled. But that did not mean he could not feel. He knew exactly how much he felt for Max and that scared the hell out of him. She had slowly wormed her way past his barriers without his consent or comprehension, and the next thing he knew, he was in too deep. He did not even know when it had started.

He had to give it to her; she was obviously skilled in stealth.

How did they arrive at this conversation anyway? All he had wanted to do was to talk to her about the way she dealt with the men, not to talk about both of them. Definitely not to talk about his supposed jealousy. So what if he was jealous? That did not mean that he was not right about her carelessness.

"Zack?" Max's voice interrupted his internal debate.

Zack studied her face, noting the stubborn set of her chin. "You're missing the point. This is not about me, it's about you."

"I said I can deal with those sorts of things myself, Zack. I don't need you to baby-sit or to screen the men I see. After all, I've taken care of myself all these years, haven't I?" Max proclaimed.

_What the hell could he say to that?_ Zack thought irritably, finding it harder and harder to keep his face impassive. She did not sound as if she cared what he thought one way or another. The girl was just going to continue doing what she was doing. Well, he would not just stand back and watch her get into trouble again.

Before he could say anything, Max continued, "Now I'm going to go back down to see if I could grab us something to eat. After that, I think I'll stay in the bar for a while to chill out a little."

Zack's arms shot out of their own volition and grasped Max's forearm, startling her but effectively halting her journey to the door. He barely registered what he was doing. All he could see at the back of his mind was the biker guy downstairs with his stinky paws all over Max. Zack stifled a growl. He was not about to let Max return down there by herself.

"Hey, what's with you?" Max exclaimed as she tried to shake his hand off her. "Zack, this is stupid. Let me go," she stared indignantly at him, her eyes flashing in warning.

"Have you not heard a single word I said just now?" he snapped, his patience completely gone by now. Why was she trying to be so difficult?

"I heard you loud and clear, Zack. It's you who're not listening. I told you I can take care of myself, so what I decide to do is none of your business. Especially when it comes to these sorts of things. Especially after you made it clear that anything between you and me is 'not right'," Max snapped back, her eyes daring him to contradict her.

Zack felt like strangling her. Yeah, he knew that he had said that to her, but that did not mean he had any intention of seeing her throwing herself at any available male. Especially not when he was there to stop it. The idea of her doing it was enough to drive him to violence.

"Let go, Zack!" Max gritted out, trying to pull herself from his grasp.

Zack wanted to let go, but somehow his brain had disconnected itself from the rest of his body. Instead of letting her go, he yanked her closer to him until she was just standing a fraction of an inch from him. Zack looked down at her rounded eyes and felt himself getting sucked in deeper into her gaze.

The next thing his mind registered was the feel of her lips crushed roughly beneath his. It was better than he remembered. Her lips were soft and lush, driving him to distraction. After an initial startled gasp, Max began to respond to his kisses. Zack sucked and nipped, seemingly trying to punish her for all his frustrations and annoyance of the entire situation. Max in turn moaned passionately against his lips. Groaning helplessly at the sound, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

Zack did not know how it happened. One second they were standing and the next, he was lying on top of her on the clean sheets covering the double bed. His mind was fuzzy with arousal, his blood pumping hotly in reaction and all he could do was to feel, not think. To just move, for once without control. Without having to process and analyse the situation to death before doing something he wanted to do.

His hand wandered from her sides to her front to brush against the curve of her breast, eliciting another moan from her. Zack felt himself flush as a wave of desire washed over him as he continued to kiss her, his body pressed tight against her.

"Zack…" she hissed his name softly, pulling him out of his haze.

Zack blinked, the sudden comprehension of what he was doing making him feel as if he was just doused by a bucket of cold water. He tensed for a moment when she spoke his name again. Almost tripping in his haste to remove himself from the bed, Zack stumbled out of the bed and reached a hand out to balance himself against the wall.

_Way to go, Zack_, his inner voice mocked. _So much for not letting her know how you feel._

Without looking at Max, he said tightly, "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen."

Max stared at him wordlessly for a moment before saying, "Well, I'm not sorry it happened. You're pretty good at those kisses."

"I'm not joking, Max. It can't happen again. We talked about this," Zack snapped, running a hand through his hair in a show of discomfort.

"Talking didn't seem to have worked. Face it, Zack, we're both adults. You want it as much as I do," Max pointed out.

"I told you it's a mistake," Zack growled insistently as he hit his palm against the wall, making Max jump.

Max swung her legs off the bed, staring at Zack, this time with an angry expression on her face. "I can't do this, Zack, watching you lie to yourself and to me. You've got to be blind not to see what's happening here and you reactions basically told me that you feel at least a little of what I feel. So why don't you just admit it? Is it so hard? It doesn't make you weak, you know that?"

Without waiting for him to answer, she stepped past him and shut herself behind the bathroom door.

Feeling suddenly very tired, Zack sank back onto the bed.

_Hell! What has just happened there? Why did you kiss her, you moron?_ Zack groaned as he buried his face in his hands. _It was not just a kiss, it was much more than a kiss._ Great, now he had lost control over his body as well as his mind. He could not help himself, and his lack of control was beginning to worry him.

A few more episodes like this and he would check himself into psy-ops willingly.

* * *

Sky had thought long and hard on his plan. It had a chance of succeeding, but it depended on how well he could fool them. He needed to convince them, to make them believe him. It should not be too hard considering that they have no reason to doubt him that way.

All it took was preparation. And that was what he had been doing even since he had come to terms with who he was.

As he remembered more and more, he began to understand what exactly had happened to him. The tracer Lydecker had inserted into him contains a memory suppressant which kept his memory from returning as long as the tracer remained embedded in him. But the minute Zack ripped it out, combined with the assault, Sky realised that he must have gone into a withdrawal shock from the sudden loss of the memory suppressant. That probably explained why he was down for so long.

When he had woken up, he had been confused. Memories of Manticore interspersed with his memories of the time he had spent with Max and Zack. It had been as if he was watching two different people. The Manticore version of him was hard, tough and relentless in the way he operated, but what he called the 'sibling' version of him was jovial, easygoing and even had a sense of humour. The Manticore version had wanted to wrap his hands around the necks of the two traitors which had caused him so much pain in psy-ops, but the sibling version of him wanted to reach out and hug the two transgenics who had taken care of him, believing that he was Zane.

But which one was the real him? Was he X5-206 or Sky?

The soldier or the sibling?

Sky knew that no matter what he did, there was always going to be a part of him which was pure Manticore. There was no way someone could erase two decades of conditioning and training. It was just not possible. However, he also knew that he could not forget the person he had been when he was unaware of his status as a genetically engineered killing machine.

His decision made, Sky stepped out of the motel room and went to the nearest phone-box. Slipping in a few coins, he proceeded to dial a number from memory.

After a few seconds, a voice came from the receiver, "Lydecker here."

"Sir, X5-206 reporting, sir!"

Sky could hear Lydecker inhaling a deep breath. "X5-206, report your position and your status," the older man said.

"Sir, my location is Silver Lake, Oregon. I woke up today to find myself strapped to a chair in a motel. The last thing I remembered before that was a fight between myself and two transgenics which I suspect could be the '09-ers," Sky explained.

Lydecker was silent for a moment before he replied, "X5-206, where are the '09-ers now?"

"Their position are unknown, sir. When I woke up, there was no sign of them," Sky said.

"Did they leave anything behind? Anything we could trace?" Lydecker asked in a hopeful tone.

"Negative, sir. The room was clean. I searched it and also spoke to the motel reception. They did not leave anything, sir."

"What about vehicular trails?"

"I have some information, however I could not verify the accuracy," Sky replied.

"What is it?"

"A civilian noted that on the day I was brought into the motel, two bikes which matched the description of the ones belonging to the '09-er were sighted. They were headed North, I was told," Sky said.

The line was silent for a moment, and then Lydecker instructed, "X5-206, proceed to track them. Report back to base every two hours."

"Yes, sir," Sky said and then hung up. _So far so good,_ he thought.

Now all he had to do was to find Max and Zack.

* * *

Max stood under the hot shower, feeling much better than she had been when she left the room.

Zack's insistence on pushing her away was beginning to wear her down. She had thought that she had managed to make some progress considering his reaction when she flirted with the other guys, but she now realise that it was all useless.

Zack might realise that what he was feeling was jealousy, but from what Max could see, he had no intention of breaking down his barriers anytime soon. He was definitely not going to admit it to her. Talk about denial, she sighed, shaking her head.

Talking to him obviously was not going to help. So what else could she do?

Time. That was what she needed.

She needed time to wear down his barriers.

And she had no intention of giving up until he admitted his feelings.

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: I think I'll keep my mouth shut about finishing this story this time, (smiles sheepishly!). Please review and let me know what you think!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews. Virtual kisses all around! Sorry this chapter took so long, I got stuck on one bit which I'm not happy about. Still not exactly satisfied, but I thought I should just post it!

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 13 **

(by elle6778)

Zack looked up from the bed when Max walked out of the bathroom, clad only in a white bathrobe provided by the motel. She walked to the opposite site of the bed and continued to rub her hair dry with a small towel, not speaking a word or even glancing at him.

Knowing that he had probably upset her with their conversation earlier, he was torn between saying something or just leaving it at that. Much as he balked at having 'something' happening between them, he was even more disinclined to see her like this.

Taking a deep breath, he broke the silence. "Max?"

"Hmm?" she responded as she ran her fingers through her hair, taming the wet strands.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, peachy."

"Look, Max. I'm sorry about just now. But you know it can't go on," Zack tried.

"It's okay, Zack," she said simply.

Zack exhaled loudly. This was Max in one of her 'I-don't-want-to-talk' moods which he had never known how to deal with even when they had been kids in Manticore. He watched her as she got up to stand by the window, noticing her damp hair resting against her smooth cheeks. The bathrobe was too big for her, but she had tightened it around her waist so that it remained in place. He gulped involuntarily at the sight of the curve of her breast peeping out between the folds of the robe and decided suddenly that it would be safer for him to look elsewhere.

"Where're your clothes?" he asked. It would probably be better if she was dressed, instead of walking around the room naked underneath the bathrobe.

Max turned to him and said, "Washed them. It's kind of needed it after all these days. It'll dry by tomorrow."

Zack's eyes widened. Was she planning to sleep like that? With HIM in the room? What was she thinking? How was he supposed to ignore the fact that he was sleeping in the same room with a practically naked woman? He might be a genetically enhanced super soldier, but he was still a red-blooded male.

"You should probably do the same," she said, wrinkling her nose in distaste, oblivious to his thoughts.

"There's nothing wrong with my clothes," he said, beginning to wish that she remained silent. Her 'I-don't-want-to-talk' mood was definitely much more acceptable than her coming up with something like this.

Max rolled her eyes. "You've been wearing that for what? A week? Or was it more than a week. Come on, Zack. It's disgusting."

Zack scowled. She was probably right. But after tearing up his shirts to use as bandages, he had no more clothes apart from what he had on.

"Max, I don't think it's a good idea for both of us to stay in this room wearing nothing but bathrobes," he said uncomfortably.

Raising her eyebrows, she said, "Zack, we're both adults. I'm sure we can manage. How about this? I promise to keep my hands to myself, okay?"

Zack frowned. How was he supposed to tell her that it was not her hands that he was concerned about, but his own? That he did not need any further encouragement to stray from his resolve to keep from touching her, or kissing her. Or something stupid thing like that. His body seemed to have a mind of its own when it came to Max, much to his disgust.

"Zack? Are you shy?" Max said, her eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Shy? It's not about me being shy!" he protested indignantly.

"So what's the problem?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing. I'm going to get it washed now, alright," he said, walking to the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

Shy? Hell, no.

Worried? Most definitely.

Not too long ago, he had somehow managed to lose control and had kissed her. And when she had walked out of the bathroom a few minutes ago, he had a hard time keeping his eyes averted from her indecently exposed cleavage when she raised her arms up to towel her hair. The image was practically burned in his mind now. This time, he knew that he had to make sure that he kept his hands to himself, however delectable she might look in that fluffy white bathrobe.

Zack groaned as he pulled his clothes off. He hoped that his hormones did not decide to do the thinking for him this time. Discipline was what he needed. He needed to think like her CO, not some hormonal teenager. He was a soldier, damn it! Control and discipline should be second nature to him.

_Yeah, then why is it so hard for you to keep your cool, huh_, the annoying voice in his head piped up.

_It was just a temporary aberration,_ Zack replied to the voice as he stepped into the shower.

The voice snorted. _Who are you kidding, Zack? You've fallen for the girl. Hard. The signs are all there. The uncontrollable lust, the jealousy and the possessiveness. All you have to do now is to admit it._

Zack scowled, stepping out of the shower. There was no way he would succumb to those feelings. The whole thing was just not right. Grabbing a nearby towel, he dried himself and wrapped the towel around his waist.

_But why was it not right? _

It was not right because he was her CO. Not to mention that these kinds of feelings put them in danger. All this sentimental bullshit clouded the mind and made them all vulnerable.

_So basically it's just fear, right, Zack?_ The voice challenged. _The fear of commitment because you're scared of being exposed, being hurt. You're running scared, Zack._

Zack stiffened. Was he running scared? Was that why he never allowed anyone to get close? For the fear of being hurt? What happened to the fearless genetically engineered super-soldier Manticore created?

Groaning out loud, he began to wash his clothes, brushing the voice aside. It would not matter soon anyway. They were almost at San Francisco, where they would be parting ways. One more day, and he would not have to think about this anymore.

One more day and then he could go back to watching her back from a distance. The thought of that made his heart clench painfully. He knew that he was going to miss her, but it had to be done. They could not continue this way. Especially now that he knew how he felt towards her.

He wrung his clothes dry and laid it on the rail over the radiator, next to Max's clothes. His eyes did a double take when he noted that her lacy black panties and bra was hanging there. Zack gulped as he realised that Max was completely naked underneath the bathroom. _Great!_ Now his wayward mind would have more to think about.

Zack looked around, searching for a bathrobe, frowning when he did not find what he was looking for. Was there only one bathrobe in there? Zack groaned. The situation had just gotten worse. If he did not know better, he would have said that fate was definitely plotting something against him.

Or maybe Max was plotting something. He would not put it past her to try something again tonight. Steeling his resolve, he decided that the games would end tonight. Whatever they had done so far was already moving into a dangerous territory.

It was time to put a stop to it.

Securing the towel tightly around him, he opened the door and walked into the room.

Max was already lying down in bed, her eyes shut but there was no telling whether or not she was asleep. Zack did not have to look around the room to know that there was no couch in the place. So he would either have to sleep in the bed or on the floor.

* * *

Max continued to keep her breath even and her eyes shut when she felt the bed dip beside her. She kept still until she heard Zack's breathing even out, and then slowly, she turned to face his back.

Grinning in the dark, she thought of her next course of action. Perhaps if words were not enough to convince him, actions would. She was counting on the fact that he was a red-blooded male, who as far as she knew, had not had any physical gratification recently. The question was whether or not she dared to go as far as she had planned. The whole thing might still turn pear-shaped. But it was not as if she had anything to lose anyway.

Carefully, she raised her hand above the covers and scooted closer to him. With one hand she traced a gentle line from his barcode down to the base of his spine. And then she waited with bated breath for him to turn around and yell at her.

Nothing.

Slightly disappointed at the lack of response, Max moved her hand to his muscular arms, sweeping over his skin lightly as she pressed her lips softly against his back. His unique scent invaded her nostrils, making her flush in reaction. And still, Zack did not move or react.

Bolder now, she snaked out her tongue to taste his skin, suppressing a moan when his taste hit her senses. Absently, she wondered why she was torturing herself like this. Her arm curled around his body to his bare chest, her hand skimming up and down. Her fingers tingled when she brushed against his nipple.

Instantly, she heard Zack in a sharp breath, his body turning rigid. _Finally!_

"Max, what are you doing?" he hissed softly.

"I'm a bit cold," she said with a cheeky smile. "Remember the lesson they taught us at Manticore about sharing body heat?"

"That lesson did not involve tongues, Max," Zack said tightly.

"I thought you're sleeping," Max said, and then rolled her eyes at herself.

Zack was one of the best Manticore soldiers around. Of course he would wake the second he felt her hand on him. But then, why he did not stop her earlier? She smiled to herself when she registered the implication of his actions. Whether Zack realised it or not, he was ready to cave. He just needed a little encouragement.

"And I thought you promised to keep your hand to yourself," his irate voice reached her.

Max grinned. "I lied."

"Max, don't do this. We'll regret it in the morning," he said in a demanding tone.

"Regret what?" she asked as she snuggled closer, pressing her front against his back. Her right arm settled itself around his bare waist, effectively spooning herself against him.

Zack released a groan, but surprisingly did not move away.

Encouraged, Max shifted so that the lapels of her bathrobe fell open, allowing their bare skin to touch. Max stifled a moan at the contact just as Zack froze.

"Max…" he choked out roughly. "Stop it!"

Ignoring his warning, Max pressed herself closer against him and moved her hand in circles around his abdomen, feeling his muscles ripple under her palm. And then she suddenly felt herself pushed roughly to her back with Zack's weight pressing down on her. His blazing blue eyes seared into hers as she watched him fight a losing battle for control.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity, she pulled his head down, her lips locking onto his. Zack groaned deep in his throat as he responded to her kiss hungrily. Max was too swept up in the feel of his lips to wonder why Zack suddenly gave in so soon. She had expected him to resist further, but she guessed even Zack had his limits.

His hand moved down between them to seek her breast. Max gasped as his fingers tugged the bathrobe off her, allowing himself access to her heated skin. She arched against him, trying to increase the contact, noticing hazily that at some point, his towel had become undone. He responded to her demands by lowering his head to her skin, his lips wreaking havoc with her senses.

Suddenly it all stopped as he pulled away from her. Propping himself up on his elbows, his eyes bored into hers in an initially unfathomable expression. And then she noted that he looked almost angry as he stared down at her. Max's eyes widened as a feeling of uncertainty engulfed her. _Why was he looking at her like that?_

"Is this what you want, Max?" he growled roughly, the chords in his neck clearly visible as he strained for control. "Because I don't think I can stop if this goes any further."

Max looked up at him, for the first time feeling unsure of what she wanted. She wanted him, but not at the expense of himself. Not if he was going to beat himself up afterwards. "Zack…You know how I feel, and I know how you feel."

"That's not what I asked, Max. I want you to understand that it is not going anywhere after this. This is going to be a one-time thing. We can't be together," he said as he lowered his lips to nip her neck. "And I don't want to hurt you," he said against her skin.

"Then don't," she said, a lump forming in her throat at his tortured voice. _Why was he saying things like this now?_ She looked into his eyes and saw his resolve hardening.

"Then I can't do this," he said roughly.

A feeling of confusion and hurt washed over her. "Zack?"

"No, Max," Zack said in a hard tone. "This has gone far enough." He pushed himself off her, letting himself fall back to his side of the bed, breathing heavily.

Puzzled at his reaction, her mind still hazy from arousal, Max wondered what had just happened between them. One minute he had been all over her and the next, he withdrew. Trying not to show him how upset she was, she said quietly, "Zack, this is not wrong, you know."

He exhaled a heavy breath. "I can't give you what you want, so quit pushing it," he said harshly, making her wince involuntarily.

"But…"

"Go to sleep, Max," he said with a tone of finality as he turned his back towards her.

Knowing that she would achieve nothing by protesting, Max decided to concede for the moment. But sleep refused to claim her, and she lay silently through the night, wondering what had gone wrong.

* * *

The sound of someone clearing their throat penetrated Zack's sleep, causing him to snap awake instantly. Jumping up from the bed in reflex, his eyes immediately locked on the source of the sound.

Sky was leaning against the wall, watching him with an amused smirk plastered over his face. "Tsk, tsk, Zack. Now I understand why you left me behind," he said, looking pointedly at Zack, then the bed.

Suddenly noticing the state of his nakedness, Zack reached down to grab the towel on the floor and secured it around his waist. Flashes of what happened last night which had brought forth his state of undress began to invade his mind. Zack was furious that he let himself go so far. He did not know what came over him, especially all those things he had said to her to push her away. His intent had been to warn her, to teach her a lesson, but the rejected look in her eyes had stabbed him hard. It made him feel like a first-class jerk.

But now was not the time to think on it. Now, he had Sky to deal with. He could not really talk to Max about what happened last night anyway with Sky around.

"What are you doing here?" Zack asked, flicking a sideways glance at Max, who was sitting up in the bed, clutching the sheets against her naked body. Satisfied that she was adequately covered, Zack turned his full attention back to Sky. "How did you find us?"

"It's not hard to trail a pair of good-looking transgenics, you know. People notice, and people talk," Sky replied casually, still not moving from the wall.

"So, I guess Manticore on its way now?" Max asked with a yawn, getting up from the bed with the sheets around her. Without waiting for an answer, she made her way to the bathroom without a single look at the two of them.

Zack's eyes narrowed as he noted the appreciative glance that Sky was giving Max. A now familiar feeling of possessiveness rose in him. "Hey, soldier, what are you looking at?" Zack growled.

Sky turned his attention back to Zack. Noticing the expression on Zack's face, Sky held his arms out in a placating gesture. "Calm down, Zack. But can you blame me for being distracted?"

Zack glowered. "Cut the crap. What are you doing here, Sky? Is Manticore waiting for us outside?"

Sky shook his head. "No. I didn't tell them your whereabouts, though they're under the impression that I'm on a search mission for the two of you. Told them you're headed north."

"And why should I believe you?" Zack asked, actually wanting to believe Sky but unsure of the other transgenic's loyalties.

Sky sighed heavily. "Look, Zack, do you think Manticore will ask me to come in here to chat with you when they can just bust in and grab the two of you right now? Manticore isn't known for allowing us to say our farewells, Zack."

Still sceptical, Zack asked warily, "So what is it you want?"

"The same as what you want. I want out from Manticore," Sky said resolutely.

Zack raised his eyebrows. He did not expect that from Sky. "Let me get this straight. You want to escape from Manticore. Go AWOL. Have Manticore hunt you down for the rest of your life?"

Sky grinned. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

The bathroom door opened and Max walked out, fully dressed. "So, Sky's on our side, huh?" she asked, obviously having overheard the conversation from the bathroom.

"I just can't stay away from you, Max," Sky said cheekily.

Max rolled her eyes, but did not comment on his statement. Instead, she asked, "So what happened to you? Why have you decided to go on the run?"

Sobering up, Sky explained, "Well, I got my memory back, so I remember Manticore and all the training shit we had gone through. But I also remember the time since you guys got me out of the hospital. And frankly, I think I prefer freedom to a lifetime of servitude to Manticore. Even if it means Escape and Evade for the rest of my life. You guys are my heroes," he finished with wink.

Max snorted. "Right."

"Then why don't you just disappear? Why go through all the trouble to track us down?" Zack asked.

Sky took a deep breath. "Because I need your help for us to disappear for good, and I think have a plan which may work."

* * *

**t.b.c. **

A/N: A bit different this time between Zack and Max, I know...So what exactly is Sky up to? Please review and let me know what you think!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews. I have to apologise for the long wait I've put you through, but I had spent the entire January dealing with wedding arrangements, which left me with no time to even check my email, let alone write! But I somehow, in between everything, I finally managed to finish this chapter (phew!). It's probably a bit messed up because I don't have the time to go through it like I usually do, but I feel guilty for making you all wait so long. Now, all I've got to do is to plan for a honeymoon...(sighs…more planning)… Hopefully by the end of February, I'll be updating regularly again once everything is settled.

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 14**

(by elle6778)

_Sky took a deep breath. "Because I need your help for us to disappear for good, and I think have a plan which may work."_

Zack gave him an assessing look. Sky appeared sincere enough. However, Zack knew that he had to keep his guards up, just in case he was wrong about Sky. There was no harm in listening, though. "So, what's this plan of yours?"

"It's simple really. We need to make Manticore believe that we're dead. That'll at least stop them from trying to track us down," Sky said.

Zack turned to Max just in time to see her shake her head. "Manticore will want to see our bodies. Then they'll carry out DNA tests to identify us. We can't fool them that easily. This is Manticore we're talking about," she pointed out.

Sky waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Yeah, well. Better that they look for our bodies than look for us, right?"

"He has a point, Max," Zack said thoughtfully. "Though it doesn't solve the problem of how we can achieve that," he said pointedly to Sky.

"We need to stage something realistic," Sky said.

"It has to be something which could fool even Manticore," Zack added.

The three of them fell into silence, each sporting a thoughtful expression.

A loud sigh from Max broke the silence. "Apart from drowning ourselves in the sea, or blowing ourselves to bits, I can't think of any other way of convincing Manticore that we're dead. Even that, how do we get the news to Manticore without making it sound suspicious?"

The furrow between his eyes suddenly clearing, Zack said with a grin, "I think you just gave us an idea."

* * *

Clad in shorts and a colourful printed t-shirt, the man on the boat wiped the sweat off his wrinkly forehead as he continued to carry out the task assigned to him by his employer, the owner of the boat. Perched on his head was a blue company cap which identified him as 'Pete'. 

Pete was rolling a barrel of oil down the deck, a job he had to take ever since the Pulse had robbed him of his ten-year job as a computer technician, when the sound of footsteps in the distance reached his ears. He ignored it at first, until the sound became louder and louder.

Looking up, his eyes began to narrow as he watched the rapid approach of one blonde man and one dark-haired woman, who were making a beeline at what seemed to be the direction of his employer's boat. Not far behind them, another man, also blonde, was hot in pursuit, yelling for the pair to stop.

Before he knew it, Pete found the pair on his boat.

Pete waved his hands frantically at them. "Hey, what do you think you're doing? Get off the boat!" he yelled in surprise, staring incredulously at the blonde man and the dark-haired woman. Pete's eyes bulged when he swung around to find that the blonde chaser had gotten on the boat as well.

"This is a private property," Pete yelled again, looking desperately around him for help. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be in the vicinity.

The two blonde men and the woman ignored him. By this time, they were engaged in a furious fistfight. Pete gasped as the chaser delivered a punch to the woman's midsection, forcing her to double over in pain. He was about to step forward when the woman's companion tackled the other blonde man to the ground. For a second, Pete thought he caught a glimpse of something which appeared to look like a barcode tattoo behind the man's neck.

"Get your hands off her, 206!" the blonde man yelled as he rammed a fist into the other man's face.

The man who was lying on his back grabbed the other man's neck, forcing him back. Pete noted that this other man also sported a barcode tattoo at the back of his neck. "You and 452 are coming back with me," the intruder growled just before he flipped the other man off.

Pete frowned. _What the hell were they talking about?_ If he had not known better, he would have thought that he was hallucinating. Those people were calling each other by what? Numbers? Swallowing, he said loudly, "I don't know what's your problem but I'm not telling you again. Get…off…the… boat!"

All three heads snapped around to face him wordlessly, their eyes hard.

Pete's eyes flickered back and forth between the three of them nervously. Who knew what sort of crazy people these were? Must be a gang or something, he thought worriedly. What with the barcode tattoo and all. Maybe he should just get off the boat himself. Yes, that seemed like a good idea to him.

Clearing his throat, Pete said, "Fine. Do what you want," he said, thinking to himself that the minute he got off the boat, he was going to call the police. They would know how to deal with these three.

Backing away from the intruders, Pete jumped off the boat onto the pier. He heard the fight starting up again but did not look back as he made a run for the nearest phone-box.

A sudden explosion rocked the air, sending clouds of smoke in Pete's way. Instinctively, he flattened himself to the ground, his heart pounding rapidly. He did not know how long he remained that way, but when he finally dared to look up, his eyes widened in shock.

The boat.

His employer's boat was a blackened mass, sinking rapidly into the water. Pieces of charred wood were drifting away from the main body, bobbing up and down with the choppy waves.

Pete slowly shook his head side to side as he continued to stare with his mouth gaping.

* * *

Renfro tightened her fingers around the gleaming silver pen held in her hand as she watched the recording of the news broadcast. The screen on the wall displayed a reporter interviewing a man wearing a blue cap embroidered with the word 'Pete'. 

The man sported a shocked expression as he gestured behind him at a plume of dark smoke rising up into the sky.

"They were calling each other by numbers, and the two guys have barcode tattoos at the back of their necks," Pete said, pointing at the back of his own neck. "I'm telling you, they must be part of a gang or something." He shook his head, "Kids these days…No respect for property belonging to others."

The reporter brought the microphone closer to herself, "A gang fight then, which resulted in the boat blowing up? Did you see how it happened?"

Pete stared at the reporter. "No, are you kidding me? I got off the boat. It was getting dangerous, you see. Those kids were trying to kill each other. I think one of them was trying to get the other two to go back somewhere with him."

"You mentioned that they called each other by numbers. Do you remember what it was?" the reporter asked, watching the man avidly.

The man frowned, "Four five six? Four five something. And another is two zero six, I think."

Renfro's eyes narrowed further just before she tore her eyes away from the screen to pin them on Lydecker.

"What's the meaning of this?" she hissed angrily at him.

His lips pinched tightly together, Lydecker did not reply. Instead, he continued to watch as the man elaborated on his story. When the news broadcast ended, Lydecker pointed the remote control at it, turning it off.

Swivelling around to face Renfro, he said calmly, "206 was obviously trying to complete his mission. It would seem that he failed."

Eyes flashing coldly, Renfro said in a hard voice, "Considering how badly this operation was run, I can't say that I'm surprised. Now, we need people out there to sweep through the area for their bodies. We can't have parts of them floating about."

"No, that's not acceptable," Lydecker said slowly, an almost distracted look on his face.

Renfro studied him, looking suspicious. "Is there something else I should know?"

"Nothing I can think of at the moment," Lydecker replied and then stood up. "I'll arrange for a team to sweep the area. Hopefully we'll find something."

Renfro looked at him, unconvinced, but only said, "Do that."

Lydecker gave her a curt nod and made his way to the door. When he closed the door behind him, he allowed a small smile to curve his lips.

He knew his kids well. Much more than Renfro did. And he was almost certain that those three were far from dead. 452 and her fellow '09-er, most probably 599 from the description he had, must have somehow influenced 206 to escape.

Now, instead of twelve, he had thirteen of them to hunt down.

Lydecker sighed.

As if he needed another one.

* * *

Max tossed her head back, letting her hair whip wildly in the wind as she sneaked a sideways glance at Zack. He was on his bike, speeding along the highway with her to his left. A large blue sign which displayed 'Welcome to San Francisco' in white loomed closer before them with each passing second. 

She frowned a little when she thought of the missing member of their trio. Sky had left them soon after the staged explosion. Max had tried to get him to remain with them but Sky had irritatingly told her that it was too dangerous for them to stay together. Higher risk of getting caught, he had said, almost echoing Zack word for word.

She supposed that it was not hard to understand Sky's decision. After all, the guy had not been out of Manticore that long. But Zack had been out for a decade. Max snorted inwardly. The whole thing just proved how little of Manticore Zack had left behind when it came to these sorts of things.

And also other things.

Max knew that she was running out of time. Tonight, they were in San Francisco, where Zack wanted to deposit her, and his barriers were still firmly intact. Well, maybe not fully intact, but she knew after all these time that Zack would not give in anytime soon. Her last attempt at seduction seemed to have made Zack even more determined to keep her at arm's length.

After the last episode, she was beginning to have doubts about what little feeling she had thought that he had for her. Maybe he was just responding to all her attempts purely because of the Y-chromosome in his genes. She supposed that any male would be hard-pressed to resist when a female threw herself at him like what she had done. And Zack was definitely a full-blooded male.

She supposed that her attempts at goading a reaction out of him by her outrageous flirtation with other men, although outwardly seemed successful, could also be explained away. What she had interpreted as jealous reactions could just purely be the result of his brotherly instincts; a sort of protective instinct he had adopted towards all his siblings. And not because he was really jealous at all.

Max sighed wearily.

Could she have misread his signals that badly? Or was she interpreting his reaction only in the way she wanted to? She was not in the habit of deceiving herself, but then again, this was the first time something like this had happened to her.

It was not as if she had deliberately made herself fall for him. It had just happened. All she had wanted to do at first was just to stop him from leaving. She had spent too much time, invested too much energy all these years searching for all her siblings to let one of them walk away when she had just found him. Tactical exposure? Heck, she would deal with it when it happened. But Zack had been adamant that they should not stay together. So she had done the only thing she could think of at that time; follow him with the intent of persuading him to remain in contact.

That was all she had intended to do.

Somehow or other, what she had succeeded in doing instead was to fall for him. Hard. Little things about him had sneakily managed to invade her mind without her consent. The way the tips of his blonde hair brushed against his brows, the way the corner of his blue eyes crinkled as he smile, the way he looked at her when he was exasperated with her and countless other things flashed through her mind at the stupidest of times. She had not even realised how real the attraction was before it was too late. Sure she had tried to talk herself out of it, but it was a futile exercise because the whole attraction thing had been so glaringly obvious that it was impossible, even for her, to deny.

Zack's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Max, pull over at the next turn," he said through his open visor.

Bringing her bike closer to his, Max asked, "Are we stopping?"

"Yeah, for a small break, if you like," he replied cheerfully.

Max shrugged and pulled her bike into the empty spot next to Zack's after the turning. Well, she was not about to refuse a break when she was offered one. Her thoughts could wait.

Swinging her leg over the seat, she landed on both feet beside Zack. What she saw in front of her was not encouraging.

"I wouldn't have thought that this is your sort of hang out," Max said, her voice doubtful as she studied the flashing yellow neon sign next to the bar signage. The sign flashed a gaudy bright 'Casino Inside'.

His lips twitched as he turned to her. "No, it isn't. But I want to pay someone a surprise visit," Zack replied, and proceeded to walk into the bar.

Raising an eyebrow, Max fell into step behind him, wondering who Zack wanted to visit.

The bouncer at the entrance ran his beady eyes up and down the two of them before he opened the door, releasing a blare of pre-pulse pop music into the night air as he did so. Max scrunched up her face in distaste, but proceeded to follow Zack in, wondering what possessed him to bring her to such a place. Surely San Francisco housed better bars.

The interior was dimly lit by a series of neon lights mounted on the four walls on each side of the rectangular floor plan. A crowded bar was situated at the end closest to the entrance and the rest of the space was taken up by rows of table featuring various casino games. The air smelled of stale beer and cigars, but it did not seem to bother the other patrons.

Max was about to make her way to the bar when Zack halted her movements. Instead, he signalled for her to wait for him. Frowning in confusion, Max's mouth opened to ask Zack what's going on, but promptly shut it when she realised that he was already halfway to one particular gaming table.

Well, she was not about to risk losing him in the crowd, she thought. Lengthening her steps, she sped up, weaving between the gamblers to reach him, muttering under her breath.

She stopped when she spotted Zack's blonde head leaning close to a curvaceous brunette. The woman was dressed like one of the dealers in the casino and Zack was talking into her ear. He must be talking very softly, because even with her transgenic hearing, Max could not make out what he was saying.

Squeezing past between a thin man and a disgruntled looking woman, Max was about to call out to Zack when she suddenly froze.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched the attractive brunette fling both arms around Zack, laughing happily as she kissed him heartily on both his cheeks. But what made her heart stop was the indulgent look on Zack's face as the woman whispered excitedly to him. Zack replied just as softly, a smile on his face. Max's heart clenched painfully when Zack made no move to dislodge the woman when she hugged him again.

Zack's reluctance to further their relationship began to make sense, Max thought bitterly. It was not alright for them to be together because of their common past, but it was alright for him to be with someone else. Someone without the complication of Manticore hanging over her head. So much for not being emotionally involved. So much for the avoidance of all those phoney sentimentality.

The simple reason was the brunette hanging off Zack's neck, Max thought coldly. She should not have bothered making a fool out of herself. She should have just stayed in Seattle, Lydecker or not, and continued with her life instead of running all over the place in hope of getting Zack stay with her and to give in to their so-called attraction.

She suddenly felt sick.

Not wanting to see anymore of the display, she turned abruptly and shoved her way past the masses of gamblers. She continued that way until she exited the building, not bothered at all by the indignant looks she left in the wake of her path.

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: That's it for now! Hope you all enjoyed this. Please review to let me know what you think, even if it's to tell me off for not updating sooner...lol


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thanks for reviewing the last chapter. (Winces) Yes…I know it had taken forever, again…But I've just arrived back in the UK on Tuesday and since then had been writing this. It's a bit short, but I figured I should upload it anyway. Hope you enjoy it! Future updates should be more frequent now that I'm back at home!

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 15**

(by elle6778)

Zack smiled down indulgently at the grinning brunette in front of him, glad that he had finally managed to get both him and Max here as planned. It had been hard to keep it from Max, but he wanted to surprise her by bringing her to meet Jondy. He had always intended for Max to escape with Jondy so that the two of them could grow up together, watching each others back. And now they could.

Practically jumping out of her skin in excitement, Jondy asked him, "So, where are you hiding her? Can I see her now? I still can't believe it!"

Zack nodded, turning around to the bar where he had left Max earlier. A frown began to spread across his forehead as his eyes swept the room, looking for Max.

Max was nowhere to be seen.

"Zack?" Jondy prompted, a questioning look on her face.

Turning back to her, he replied, sounding confused, "She was there a minute ago. Maybe she went to the washroom or something. I'll go look for her." With that, he headed off in the direction where he had last seen Max, weaving past the gamblers who were too absorbed in their games to pay him any attention.

The neon sign pointing towards the washroom was ahead of him, not too far from the place where he had left her. Zack stopped and decided to just wait for Max. She should be out soon.

Ten minutes later, Zack began to have doubts. Maybe she had not gone to the washroom after all. His frown grew deeper as he scanned the room over and over again, wondering where she had gone. After a while, he made his way out of the building, thinking that maybe she went out for some air. He had told her to stay put, but somehow he was not too surprise to find that she had disobeyed him.

Again.

A small smile flitted across his lips. Max had never been one to follow orders. He should know that better than anyone. It was just her nature to be that way.

Another ten minutes had passed when Zack went back in and spotted Jondy walking towards him.

"Where's she?" Jondy asked, also looking around. Then, registering the worried expression on Zack's face, she added, "Something is wrong. Do you think something happened to her?"

"I don't know. I told her to wait here, but there's no sign of her anywhere. She can't still be in the washroom, it's been too long."

Jondy lowered her gaze thoughtfully for a moment before she looked back up at Zack. "Maybe she doesn't want to see me," she said softly, her eyes displaying her disappointment.

Zack gave her an incredulous look. "I'm not even going to ask how you thought that up. You know her. Do you think that she'd pass up the chance to see one of her siblings? Would you pass up the chance to see one of your siblings?"

Jondy tilted her head up at him. "Why else did she leave then?"

"Maybe she didn't. Maybe she's still somewhere here," Zack said, not quite convinced himself. Why would Max leave without a word to him? It did not make sense at all.

"I guess that we'll just have to find her then," Jondy said, her doubtful tone suggesting that she knew that it was going to be hard to find an X5 who did not want to be found.

Zack did not reply immediately. He looked around another time before turning to Jondy. "What time do you get off?"

Flicking a glance at her wristwatch, she replied, "Now, actually. I'll go with you."

"Grab your stuff then. We'll look for her together," he said, stepping towards the exit.

"Zack, you don't think that Manticore got hold of her in such a short time, do you?" asked Jondy suddenly.

Zack stopped short. "No, I think we'd have seen it, or heard it. Max wouldn't go quietly."

"I guess. I just wondered, that's all."

"No, I don't think that's it. But I still don't know why she would have gone without a word," Zack said, confusion marring his features.

There were two possible scenarios; either Max went willingly or she did not. And it was not easy to capture an X5. The only one who would want to do that was Manticore, and Zack did not think they were involved this time. So the only other explanation was that Max had left of her own volition.

But why?

* * *

That's it, Max thought, her face set in a look of determination. She was done chasing after Zack. Rejection after rejection, she had continued to push on, and look where it got her?

Nowhere.

Zack's heart was taken by that pretty brunette at the casino table.

A pang of jealousy coursed through Max, her heart twisting in a way she never felt before.

She had to leave. What could she have done anyway? Hang around and wait for Zack to introduce her to the very reason why he had not entertained her advances? She did not think that her pride could take the sort of bashing it would have received if she had stayed around. The two of them would probably look at her with pity in their eyes, and that was definitely something she did not want to see.

It hurt too much.

A part of her wondered how would Zack react once he found her missing. Maybe he would decide to look for her. But maybe he would just shrug and continue his reunion with the brunette. Max swallowed the lump in her throat, refusing to allow herself to continue that line of thought. But she did not know what to think now.

Anyway, if he really wanted to find her, he would know where to look. She had not made it a secret that she preferred to remain in Seattle.

She felt so stupid. Of all things, she had thought that he felt something for her. But all that was probably just Zack being Zack, the caring, over-protective _brother_. Nothing more but a brother. It was all just the product of her over-active imagination.

She exposed herself emotionally, thinking that it might lead somewhere. Maybe she should be just like Zack, emotionally closed up. Except, of course, he was not that way with the brunette. So much for rejecting all that so-called phoney sentimentality. Zack was just as susceptible to it as anyone else. He was just choosy over who he gave it to.

_And that's not you_, Max, a small voice inside her said.

Max's heart twisted again and she closed her eyes briefly in an attempt to block the unwanted pain.

It was better if she just returned to Seattle.

Thoughts of Logan suddenly entered her mind, making her grimace. At one time, she had thought that maybe there was something there. But what little thing she had felt for Logan paled in comparison with Zack.

Max sighed as she twisted the throttle, urging her bike to move forward faster. At least she has friends in Seattle. A twinge of guilt gnawed at her when she realised that she had barely spared a thought for Kendra, Original Cindy and Sketchy in all these time.

Maybe she was just meant to be alone.

Time to get your priority right, girl. And that's not Zack, she told herself.

Moving ahead steadily, taking only short breaks to refuel, Max finally approached Seattle when the sun was high up in the sky.

As the signboard whizzed past her, she forced a smile onto her lips. Okay, time for a fresh start, she decided. No more thinking of Zack. No more chasing after dreams. The tough chick façade was coming back up and this time, it was staying intact.

She would not be so stupid as to put herself in that sort of situation again.

* * *

Jampony was bustling with activity when she stepped in. Normal looked up with his usual frown, his eyes narrowing in obvious disapproval when he spotted Max.

"Now look what we've got here," he exclaimed sarcastically. "Little missy-miss decided to come in after her sudden leave of absence. What is it this time? Some major family emergency?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Max resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Nice to see you too, Normal," she said, her expression innocent. "And yeah, how did you guess about that family emergency?"

Normal gave her a piercing look. "You can't just waltz back in here and expect your job to wait around for you. I've taken on new, better bike messengers. You're not needed anymore. Now scram!"

Max put on her puppy-dog eyes. "Oh come on, Normal. You don't mean that."

"Yep. I do," he insisted, turning back to sorting out the packages in front of him.

Max closed the distance between them. "I can make it up to you."

Normal raised a pair of doubtful eyes at her. "Yeah, how?"

"I'll do overtime."

He shook his head. "No, you left and lost your chance to shine in this establishment. It'll set a bad example for me to take you back."

"Give me a chance, Normal," she coaxed, just as Sketchy and Original Cindy walked up to them.

"Hey, boo," Original Cindy greeted, her eyes full of unspoken question.

Sketchy did not have any reservation in asking, "Max, where have you been all this time?"

Max turned to face her friends. "I had a family emergency. A cousin of mine died and I had to go," she said, injecting what she hoped to be the appropriate amount of sadness in her voice just before she flicked a look at Normal.

Normal looked up from his packages, his eyes assessing Max carefully. He obviously did not know if he should believe her or not.

"Come on, Normal. It was really a sad time for me, and all I need now is to get back to work. You know, to get back into life," Max continued softly.

Sighing loudly, Normal finally relented, "Alright, alright. Just make sure that you don't do it again. Now get back to work. We have packages to deliver."

Grinning, Max gave Normal a grateful look. "Thanks, Normal. You're the greatest!"

Normal just looked at her, frowning slightly, before he turned back to the rest of his packages.

Original Cindy followed Max as she walked towards the locker. When she was sure that they were out of hearing range of the rest of the messengers, the afro-haired girl asked, "So, boo. Ready to tell me why you disappeared without a word for the last couple of weeks?"

"Long story," Max replied wearily as she opened her locker. Then turning to face Original Cindy, she continued, "I met up with one of my brothers."

"So, what's the dealio with him? You don't look too happy," Original Cindy observed shrewdly.

Max's lips curved in a half-hearted smile. "Yeah, things didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to."

Original Cindy narrowed her eyes as she assessed Max critically. "Boo, tell me that it's not what I think it is," she said in a low voice.

"What?" Max asked, feeling like she had been caught doing what she should not be doing.

"You sound like you got the hots for your bro," Original Cindy said, incredulous.

"So what? He's not a blood relative," Max defended.

"But still…"

Max interrupted her. "No, we didn't even know the concept of siblings when we started calling each other brothers and sisters. And anyway, it's kind of over now."

Original Cindy went silent for a moment and then her eyes softened in understanding. Laying a gentle hand on Max's shoulders, she asked, "Girl, anytime you want to talk, I'm here to listen."

Max smiled slightly, glad that her friend decided not to push. "Thanks."

Original Cindy inhaled and then exhaled loudly. Then, grinning, she said, "Well, you can always come and bat for the all-girl's team."

Max laughed. "I'll think about it."

"You do that, girl. Normal just hired this really sweet lickety-boo a week ago. She makes me feel hot just looking at her," Original Cindy said, fanning herself for effect.

"Oh, yeah? And?"

"And nothing. The girl's straight, and I think she's been making eyes at the new guy."

Max raised her eyebrows. "Normal got a new girl AND a guy? I thought he was kidding. Now I understand why he's so reluctant to take me back."

"There they are now," Original Cindy said, nodding towards the entrance.

Turning her head to peek around the corner of the locker, Max searched for the two newcomers, wondering what sort of people Normal had hired now. Considering his taste in messengers, it could be anyone.

When she finally caught sight of the new male messenger, Max gasped in surprise.

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: Who do you think it is? (Grins) Please leave me a review and let me know what you think.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you for all you reviews for the last chapter! I tried to update a little sooner this time, which probably means that there are more mistakes in here than usual! (sighs) Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy what's coming up next…

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 16**

(by elle6778)

Eyes rounded in surprise,Max hissed under her breath, "Sky…"

Original Cindy snapped her head towards Max, surprised. "You know him?" she exclaimed, and then shook her head slowly as her lips curved into a smile. "Girl, is he the reason you went missing for so long?"

Max did not have a chance to conceal the astonished expression on her face before her friend spotted it.

Arching a well-defined eyebrow, Original Cindy smirked, "So, what's the dealio with pretty boy over there?"

"Long story," was Max's only reply before she made her way to the entrance. Sky was part of the reason, just not the whole deal, but she could not bring herself to explain the situation to Original Cindy just yet.

She knew that Sky had registered her presence merely by the sudden stiffening of his posture. Obviously his Manticore-honed radar was still fully functional, she noted wryly.

"Hey," he said guardedly when she reached him.

"Hey yourself," Max said. She then gave a pointed look at his companion, the new girl Normal hired. When the ditzy blonde failed to receive the silent message, Max sighed in exasperation. "Could you give us a minute?" she snapped tightly.

The girl gave her a startled look before saying lightly, "Oh. Sure. See you later, Sky."

Turning back to Sky, Max asked, "So, what are you doing here?"

"Gee, Max. I didn't realise that I need your permission to go anywhere. Or do I have to report to you now?" he asked, sounding amused.

"I thought you were going somewhere else?"

"Like where? I figured that since Manticore dumped me here in the first place, it'll probably the last one they'll ever think of searching for us if they somehow had caught on to our game," he explained, before he scanned the room quickly. "Where's lover-boy?"

Max scowled. "Don't call him that."

Sky rolled his eyes. "Okay. Where's Zack?"

"He's out of town. Sorting out some…personal business," she replied disinterestedly.

Studying her curiously, Sky asked, "So, you want to tell me what's going on?"

"There's nothing-"

He interrupted her. "Come on, Max. You face is practically an open book. You're pissed about something."

"I said there's nothing wrong! So drop it," she snapped irritably, her discomfiture showing clearly.

Sky went silent for a moment, his expression thoughtful. Then he said quietly, "You're upset about Zack, I think. What did he do?"

Max gritted her teeth in annoyance. The guy was persistent alright. Must be something he had learnt from Manticore's interrogation lessons. She took a deep breath before saying, "If he had done something, it's none of your business anyway."

"Now, that's not true, is it, Max?" he said cheerfully, putting his arm around her shoulders. "We're buddies now, and being the only two X5s in here, we've got to watch each other's back."

Max threw him a sceptical look.

Grinning, he continued, "And not to mention that if Zack had messed things up with you, this basically means that I have a better shot at… you know…" He left it hanging there for her to speculate.

Understanding his unspoken words, Max glared at him, but she could not help the twitching of her lips. "Don't even go there, Sky. I mean it," she warned.

Sky moved his hand to her shoulders, shifting so that they were eye to eye. "Max, you won't be able to resist my charms," he said, his eyes relaying his seriousness.

Max could not help it. She burst out in laughter at his earnest expression.

Sky looked satisfied. "Much better," he said, patting her shoulders. "Now, you want to tell me what's bothering you? You're practically radiating misery."

Max was touched by his concern. Obviously he was trying to cheer her up, but she was not sure if she wanted to talk about her feelings for Zack to Sky, of all people. But she supposed that she had to tell Sky something.

"I don't really want to talk about it," she finally said. Hesitating a little, she then continued, "I made a mistake, and I don't want to re-hash it. It's not like I don't trust you or anything. It's just… personal, I guess."

Sky nodded silently. Then, with a grin, he shrugged and said, "Hey, I can't say I blame you. Manticore forgot to include lessons on how to engage in a heart-to-heart when they cooked up our syllabus."

Max looked at him, the corner of her lips lifting slightly. "You know, I think you might be right."

Sky threw an arm around her shoulders. "Of course I am."

Max rolled her eyes.

* * *

Zack stood next to his bike, looking out at the long length of empty road ahead of him as he took regular, almost mechanical, sips out of the can of soda in his hand. He appeared completely absorbed in his thoughts but he did not miss the approaching footsteps of another person.

"Zack, are you okay?" Jondy's soft voice broke the silence.

He took another sip of his drink before he replied gruffly, "Yeah. Just wondering where she is." _And wondering why she left the way she had done_, he continued silently.

Her brows furrowing, she said, "You know, I've been thinking about it. The whole thing didn't make sense. I mean, why did she run off like that?"

Zack's lips quirked. "I don't need to tell you that running is what we do best, Jondy," he said wryly.

Jondy snorted. "Not for no reason. Only when we want to escape something. Like capture, or…" she paused, her expression turning contemplative as she studied Zack.

Zack prompted absently, "What?"

"Something just occurred to me, that's all."

Zack raised his eyebrows, wondering what Jondy's agile mind had come up with this time. "Do I want to know?" he asked warily.

"Depends, I guess, on how honest you want this conversation to be," Jondy batted back.

"Just say it," Zack said roughly, his patience wearing thin. Something in Jondy's expression told him that he would not like what he was about to hear.

Jondy gave him a shrewd look. "Something happened between the two of you, didn't it?"

Zack stiffened visibly. "What are you going on about?" he said, trying to keep the edginess out of his voice. Jondy could not possibly know about what had happened between Max and him in the last few weeks. How could she?

"Don't play dumb, Zack. It doesn't suit you," Jondy said, planting her hands on her hips as she watched him expectantly.

"Jondy, I don't know what you're talking about," he insisted, averting his face from her. Last thing he wanted was for Jondy to guess what had happened from his expression, if she had not done so already.

Rolling her eyes, Jondy snapped, "Fine. Let me spell it out for you then. Yes, we're good at running. And as far as I know, we only do it for two reasons. One; escaping capture and to avoid being compromised. Two; running from our emotions. Now since we've ruled out capture, then Max must be running because of some emotional stuff. Since she didn't even know that I was there in the casino, then the only other catalyst must be you," she paused for a second, and then said softly, "I don't know. Maybe something happened between you two. Something which made her feel like she needed to leave."

Zack stared at her wordlessly, unsettled at her assessment of the situation. An assessment which seemed to ring true. Especially considering that he had rejected her that last night they were together. Almost one week had passed since that night.

Yes, maybe he had pushed her away, or maybe Max had had enough of him. Maybe she had decided that it was time to take his advice and split up and she had not been able to find a good time to tell him. So she had decided to disappear at the first opportunity. He had definitely given her no encouragement to remain with him.

He had succeeded in his aim to keep the distance between them.

Somehow, the knowledge made him feel even worse. It was strange, because this was exactly what he thought he wanted. For them to stay away from each other. No tactical exposure. No risk of being caught together. No phoney emotional stuff. No riding side by side in the wind.

No Max.

He sighed, suddenly feeling weary. Suddenly feeling heavy-hearted.

"We'll find her. We…"

Jondy interrupted him. "Zack, you know as well as I do that if she doesn't want to be found, we won't be able to find her."

Zack shook his head. "I need to know for sure," he said quietly.

"What happened between you, Zack?" Jondy asked gently, laying a hand on his shoulders. "You can talk to me."

Zack did not answer. Instead, he swung his leg over his bike.

"Where are we going?" Jondy asked, concerned as she followed his example.

Zack gave her an unreadable, but determined look. "We just need to check one last place, and then we'll go back our own ways, as per our usual protocol. That's okay with you?"

Jondy smiled at him sadly. "Okay," she agreed with a sigh.

* * *

Crash was packed as it usually was on a Friday night. The sound of pre-Pulse pop music blared out of the sound system, interspersed with the sounds of conversation and laughter in the room.

Sketchy's eyes were almost popping out of its sockets as he stared intently at the couple in front of him, his lips mouthing, "Come on, come on…"

Original Cindy was holding herself a little better. An occasional gasp would escape her lips but overall, she managed to keep her cool in the face of the excitement at their table.

Max and Sky sat facing each other, their eyes locked together in battle, an imitation of what their arms were engaged in. Besides Original Cindy and Sketchy, a small crowd of spectators had gathered around them, betting on who would come up tops in the arm-wrestling competition.

Sky's eyes twinkled as he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Max to hear, "You know that we're putting on a show just to entertain these people, don't you?"

Max raised her eyebrows and replied just as softly, "No. You're going to be the entertainment. I'm going to win." Her right arm and his were still locked in the neutral position, neither of them besting each other. Max did not know for sure if Sky was holding back, but she definitely was not putting in her full strength. Yet.

"Only if I let you," he said with a smirk.

"You wish."

"So what do I get when I win?" Sky continued.

"You're not going to win," Max told him. If Sky thought that the conversation was going to distract her from their competition, he was sorely mistaken.

"Come on, Max. Humour me. SAY I win…what's the prize?"

"All that money you betted on yourself?" she replied with a grin.

Sky snorted. "Of course, but that can't be it, right? There must be more than that. Something humiliating for you, for example."

Max rolled her eyes. It was so typical of Sky to ask for something like that. "First, you're NOT going to win. And secondly, I have no intention of humiliating myself in front of all these people."

"Since you're so sure that you're going to win, then there's no harm in indulging me, right? So, what should we say your punishment should be?"

Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, "Alright. Fine. I'll do your deliveries for one day."

Sky emitted a bark of laughter. "That's it? What do you take me for?"

"What do you want, then?" Max asked immediately, and then realised that she had fallen into the trap Sky had set when she caught sight of his grin. Glaring at him, she growled, "You did that on purpose."

His eyes rounding innocently, he said, "Hey, what did I do?"

"Fine, whatever," she said grudgingly. "What do you want?"

His grin widened.

Max watched him warily, sure that he was going to come up with something which would drive her completely insane. This should not be too difficult for him considering how well he had been able to get under her skin the past week. The guy seemed to live to annoy the hell out of her.

"I want a…" he paused dramatically.

"A kiss!" someone from the crowd shouted out.

Max gritted her teeth in irritation, realising that they had forgotten to keep their voices down. And there was no way she was kissing Sky.

Her expression must have told him just as much because he laughed a little, and then said, "Nah, too easy. Not much fun in that."

Max resisted the urge to sigh in relief, but her respite was short-lived.

"Though I think that I could do with a lap dance," he said cheekily as he squeezed her hand quickly.

"What!" Max shouted, indignant. "Dream on, you pervert!"

Sky smirked. "But hey, it's not going to be an issue if you win, right? Scared, Max?"

Max pinned him with a look which would have shrivelled a lesser man. "Bite me."

"That's the spirit," he said cheerfully. Then, in a softer voice, he continued, "I was beginning to miss that spirit of yours."

Max's jaw dropped. All that was just to get her riled up? To what? Had she been so detached since she had returned to Seattle a little more than a week ago that Sky suddenly felt the need to wake her up like this? What the hell did he think he was doing?

Unable to keep her thoughts to herself any longer, she hissed to him, "Sky, whatever you think you're doing, just stop it, okay? Giving you a lap dance isn't going to do much apart from bugging the hell out of me."

Unperturbed, Sky grinned. "Yeah, but I bet you're going to love me even more now," he said just before suddenly pushing down hard on her hand.

Max's eyes widened in shock as her hand hit the table with a bang. Damn, she had allowed him to distract her. Something she could hardly afford now, especially with that stupid lap dance hanging over her head. She glared at Sky, her fists itching to wipe the satisfied smirk off his face.

Waving his hands in the air, Sky stood up, lapping up the cheers from his supporters. Turning down to look at Max, he grinned widely and said, "So, you owe me a lap dance."

"You cheated," Max accused with a scowl.

"Hey, the rules never said that we can't talk," he pointed out indignantly. Turning to the crowd, he asked, "Right, guys?"

Shouts of 'yeah' and 'of course' rang out, much to Max's dismay.

Raising his brows, Sky tossed Max a challenging look. "Want to back out of our deal now?"

Disgusted at the entire situation, Max continued to scowl as Sky's grin grew wider and wider. Finally, she said, "Alright, you're on. Name the time and place and you'll get your lap dance, you sick jerk."

Sky laughed. "There's no time like the present, I always say."

Someone hollered loudly in the direction of the DJ, requesting a raunchy song. The crowd cleared a circle around the table as Sky sat down with an expectant grin on his face.

As a heady music began to play, Original Cindy yelled out, "Hey, how's the guy supposed to enjoy his lap dance with y'all breathing down his neck, huh? Get a life already and leave this two alone."

Her proclamation was met with boos and complaints, but most of them scattered back to what they had been doing prior to the wrestling match.

"You too," Original Cindy snapped, pulling a reluctant Sketchy away.

Max did not know whether she should thank Original Cindy or not for her attempt at giving them privacy. Well, not that she was really going to give Sky a real lap dance anyway. But somehow, she knew that Sky would not let her live it down if she just backed out.

Resigned to her fate, Max stepped in front of Sky, her face still set in a scowl.

"You could try to look a bit more cheerful," he commented dryly.

Max bared her teeth. "Better?"

"Perfect," he said flatly, rolling his eyes.

Max began to move to the music, her movements displaying her agitation. Sky grinned, leaning forward to get closer to her. Max gave him a warning glare before she slowly turned in a circle in time with the music.

Sky whistled. "Not bad, soldier."

"Shut up!" she snarled. "I'm not going to-" she started to say when a movement at the entrance caught her attention.

She froze when she realised that Zack and his brunette had just walked into Crash.

What was he doing here? He was supposed to be in San Francisco, Max thought, her mind whirring frantically. She watched as the brunette leaned close to him to say something, to which Zack smiled softly.

Max felt her heart twist painfully, something which she had hoped not to feel again. Zack obviously did not know how his presence with the brunette affected her, otherwise he would not even be there. And Max promised herself that she would make sure that he would not find out how painful it was for her even if it killed her.

"Hey, Max. If it really disturbs you, you can stop, you know. I'm not that starved for attention," Sky said, watching her pained expression with concern.

Max turned back to Sky, strangely comforted by his words. "What? And let you think that I can't do it? No way," she said lightly.

Then she began to move again, settling her hands on his shoulders as she swung her hips side to side to the throbbing beat. A moment later, she trailed her fingers down his chest as she bent lower.

Max felt rather than saw Sky's reaction to the change in her. Stiffening under her fingers, he pulled back to look at her suspiciously. "Erm, Max? What are you doing?"

"Giving you a lap dance," she drawled. "Isn't it obvious?"

Sky waved a dismissive hand. "Well, yeah. But-"

"What? Running scared now?" she challenged.

He gave her an affronted look. "Hell, no. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the view," he said, grinning lazily, laying a hand on her hips.

Max forced a grin. "You do that," she said.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught the exact moment Zack spotted her. He froze on the spot, bringing the brunette to an instant halt. The confused brunette then said something to him, but Zack did not reply.

A sudden surge of guilt coursed through Max at the expression on his face. Zack looked dumbstruck, almost as if he could not believe what he was seeing.

And hurt.

Max swallowed the uncomfortable feeling in her throat and continued to dance.

* * *

**t.b.c.**

A/N: Heh! I guess it's not too hard to guess what's coming up in the next chapter! In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: Thank you very much for your reviews! I know I'm late in updating again, but this chapter is very much longer than usual – you'll see why soon enough!

* * *

**Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 17**

(by elle6778)

Zack stood stock still, hardly believing what was right in front of his eyes. He could not help himself from watching in horrified fascination.

He blinked several times, wishing that it was just an illusion, that the brunette swaying sexily in front of a blonde guy was not actually Max. But she was faced in his direction, and with his transgenic eyesight, there was no way he could have mistaken her identity.

His stomach roiled, protesting violently against what his eyes were telling him. Just as he thought that he could not feel worse, the sickening feeling intensified as Max moved closer to the guy.

He had been worried about her; where she had gone, why had she left so abruptly; had he done something to push her away?

But all this time she was in Seattle.

With some blonde guy.

Was he someone she knew prior to their flight from that city?

Was he the reason why she had done what she did?

The questions kept pouring in, but Zack had no answer to any of them. All he could see was her hand snaking around the bastard's neck. The now familiar feeling of jealousy rose in him. It had happened before with other guys she had come into contact with, but this was the last straw.

And she had not given the rest of them lap-dances.

Zack knew that his subconscious wished fervently that he was the one sitting there, enjoying her attentions. Never mind all the rules. To hell with protocol. To hell with Manticore and their training. He did not give a toss about some stupid tactical exposure.

In his frantic search for her, he had come to realise that he missed her.

Very much.

He missed her so much that he could think of nothing but finding her.

Jondy had been, and still was suspicious of his motives, not knowing what had happened between him and Max. He did not blame her. Jondy has always been perceptive; she would have sensed it. He had been distracted ever since Max left, his mind only filled with one thing.

Max.

The way he saw it, he could walk away before she caught sight of him. The dilemma that he had been faced with since she discovered his identity would hopefully go away. He would not have to continue resisting her charms. His life would be back to how it was before she followed him out of Seattle. He could go back to watching the rest of his siblings' back without the distraction named Max.

Or he could confront her.

_It's too late to kid yourself, Zack._

Zack knew that if he decided to leave, Max would haunt him all the way. He would remember the times they had spent together, probably regretting and beating himself up daily not taking the chance with her. Just a chance to see if it could work out.

His actions, and his alone, were the catalyst to this situation he was now faced with. He had pushed her away once too often, convinced that no good would arise from them being together.

What if he had just given it a chance?

What if he had just succumbed to her advances?

Too many 'what if's and too little answers, Zack thought miserably.

"Zack?" Jondy's voice penetrated his thoughts.

He turned slowly to her, careful to mask the turmoil in his eyes. "That's Max," he said flatly, tilting his head at the couple.

Jondy's mouth fell open as she caught sight of Max. Tentatively, she said, "Um, you don't mean the girl dancing all over the guy?"

Zack nodded. His jaw was beginning to hurt from the effort of keeping his teeth firmly clamped together, lest he accidentally let out how he actually felt.

Jondy laid a hand on his shoulder. "But I thought the two of you…"

His eyes snapped towards her too quickly, giving away his true feelings. Slamming his mask on, he said calmly, "What?"

Jondy took a deep breath and plowed on. "I saw that look in your eyes, Zack. I know you too long for you to fool me like that. Something happened between the two of you, I can sense it. And now she's giving a lap dance to some other guy. You're telling me that you're okay with that?"

"Nothing happened between us," Zack gritted out tightly.

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, she said, "Wake-up, Zack. It's written all over your face and you're still denying it. I know that denial is an inbred X5 thing, but don't you think you're carrying it a bit far?"

Zack glowered at her. Trust Jondy to bring it out in the open like that. Well, he was not about to say anything further to implicate himself.

"Well?" she prompted impatiently.

"Well what?" he tossed back.

"For someone who's supposedly the best in our unit at strategising, you're strangely doing very little of it," Jondy pointed out, jabbing him in the chest with her finger.

Zack grunted at the force of her fingers.

She continued, not bothering to wait for his reply, "Strategise, then. It's like a mission, right. Assess your target and find the easiest way to capture her."

"Max's not a mission," he growled in annoyance. He should have known better than to bring Jondy along. The girl was too perceptive and worse, she never stopped when she was in this mood.

Jondy brushed away his words with a casual wave of her hands. "Whatever it is, you can't just stand here and watch, right? So do something."

"I'm not doing anything. What for?" he stubbornly said.

Jondy let out a frustrated cry. "Fine, if you're not going to do it, I'll do it for you."

Zack froze for a second before he snapped out a vehement, "No!"

But Jondy was already halfway across the room, he realised in alarm. _Damn it, will it kill all of them to just take a simple order?_

"Jondy, wait," he hissed, but either she was too far to hear him, or she was just ignoring him. Zack rushed towards her, hoping that he would catch her before she made a fool out of him.

His alarm grew as Jondy arrived beside Max and the blonde guy just before he did.

The blonde guy.

Zack's eyes narrowed as he registered the identity of his rival.

It was Sky?

Max was with Sky all this time?

Max with some faceless stranger would be painful for him to swallow, but Max with one of their own? It was worse because Zack knew that no one understood a transgenic better than another transgenic. An Ordinary would never be able to handle Max long term, but another transgenic? Sky? Zack was not too sure. There was a real chance that they could make it work.

Which meant that he would lose Max for good.

Jondy was right. He could not just stand there and say nothing. It felt wrong to even watch them together. His self-imposed rules no longer applied. Hell, those rules had pretty much gone out of the window ever since Max re-entered his life.

But right now, Sky was in the way.

Zack's fists clenched spasmodically as he waited for Sky to register his presence. If Sky was like any other X5, he would sense that he was being watched pretty soon.

Especially now that Max had stopped moving so repulsively close to him, Zack fumed. He knew that Max was watching him and Jondy with an expression he could not quite decipher, but Zack only focused his attention on Sky. He would deal with Max later.

However, Sky was preoccupied with something else at the moment. Zack felt his anger boil further when the other transgenic gave Jondy an appreciative look. So, Sky not only wanted Max, but Jondy as well, Zack fumed.

And then finally Sky sensed that he was being watched, because he slowly turned around, his posture tense, almost as if he knew that he was in danger.

A smile broke out on Sky's face when his eyes landed on Zack. "Hey, Zack!" he greeted cheerfully, and then, registering Zack's taut expression, his exuberance instantly faded to be replaced by caution.

"I need a word with you," Zack said tightly, watching the other blonde nod slowly, and then pulling himself to his feet.

"Zack-" Max started.

Zack interrupted without turning towards her. "I'll talk to you in a second." He could not bring himself to meet her eyes at that moment. He was afraid that he might just lose it right in front of all these people, afraid that he would pour out all he felt for her in an embarrassing tirade. Sky was easier. He would deal with Sky first.

Jondy obviously sensed that Max was about to protest, because Jondy quickly said, grabbing Max's arm, "Max, come with me. We have a lot to catch up on."

Just as Zack began to walk towards the back exit with Sky in tow, he heard a puzzled Max say, "What? What are you talking about?"

And then he went through the exit door.

* * *

Max studied the brunette with a hint of resentment she just could not hide. So this was Zack's girl, huh? She had to admit that the girl was definitely eye-catching. It was not hard to figure out why Zack had fallen for her, Max thought bitterly.

And now she wanted to catch up? On what? On Zack's childhood or something? The whole thing was bizarre. Max shook her head in an attempt to clear it.

And what was Zack doing dragging Sky away like that? She could have sworn that he looked jealous, almost ready to kill Sky, in fact. Max's lips twisted mirthlessly. So what? He has this brunette all to himself and she could not even dance with Sky?

_Double standards_, she thought sourly.

The brunette was watching her just as closely. Strange, the girl's features looked almost familiar, like someone she had met before. Max frowned, where had she seen her before?

"Have we met?" Max asked, unable to keep her curiosity in check.

The girl grinned.

Max sucked in her breath. _That grin. It can't possibly be…_

"Jondy?" she whispered disbelievingly.

The grin widened. "Took you long enough, Maxie. It has only been like what? Ten years?" Jondy said, throwing her arms around Max.

Max squeezed back, happy to see her long lost sibling. And then she froze.

_That meant that Zack was with…_

_Jondy._ Max did not think that it was possible, but her heart sank further.

Jondy must have sense the change in her, because she pulled back slowly. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Max said, forcing a smile to her lips.

If Zack and Jondy were together, who was she to wreck it? Goodness knew how much they all needed someone to be with. And Jondy was much better than any random Ordinary. Max guessed that all she could do was to wish them well and hope that someday, she would get over Zack.

"Just the shock, I think," Max continued, not meeting her sibling's eyes.

Jondy gave her a knowing look. "I don't know what's going on with the two of you but whatever it is, it can't be so bad that you have to get back at him that way."

Max's brow furrowed in confusion. And then her eyes became guarded. "Get back at who?" she asked, careful to keep her voice neutral.

Jondy sighed in exasperation. "Zack, of course. Though I still don't get the reason behind it. I'm just guessing that Zack has made an ass out of himself. Unless, of course, you're going to tell me that you and that cute blonde are an item?"

Max's jaw dropped. Why would Jondy say something like that? Jondy sounded as if she did not care about what happened with Zack and another girl.

Absently, she mumbled, "There's nothing going on between me and Sky." What could Jondy possibly mean by what she had just said? It did not make sense.

Unless, of course, nothing was going on between Jondy and Zack.

Max's heart immediately lifted. And then, it instantly plummeted back down. _Don't kid yourself, Max. It's just wishful thinking_, Max thought to herself sadly. Jondy did not say anything to that effect. Jondy could have meant that she was simply trying to piss Zack off anyway she could.

So much for wishing Jondy well.

Max just wished that she was in Jondy's shoes.

* * *

The door had barely slammed shut behind them before Zack grabbed Sky and shoved him against the wall.

"Hey, watch it, man," Sky protested indignantly.

"No, YOU watch it. What the hell do you think you're doing with Max?" Zack growled, unable to contain his fury any longer.

Holding his hands up, Sky said quickly, "Look, it was just a stupid bet, alright? Nothing is happening."

"She was giving you a damned LAP DANCE, and you say it's nothing?" Zack snarled, thumping Sky against the wall so hard that some of the plaster rained down on them.

Sky groaned at the impact of his back against the wall. Obviously annoyed at being manhandled, he snapped, "You got to stop doing this Zack. This is the second time now. I'm sick of being beaten up by you for no reason."

"Give me a good reason not to," Zack snapped back, hardly believing that Sky had the nerve to tell him off. Sky was not the one who had to suffer through _that_.

Sky's expression hardened. "Look, I'm not psy-ops or anything like that, but I can see what's happening here. You're pissed because Max was dancing with me, but has it occurred to you to ask why she did it right in front of you? Unlike me, she can't have missed seeing you. You were in her line of sight."

Zack gritted his teeth. What was Sky going on about? "Why?" he asked icily.

"Now, I don't have many friends out here. Heck, come to think of it, I only have Max," Sky mused.

Zack glowered. Was Sky trying to rub it in? The urge to hit Sky returned full force.

And then Sky continued, "I don't know what you've done, but when Max came back, she was upset. She didn't tell me why, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that it was about you. You guys got a thing going, I know. And when she came back without you, and not saying much about you, things kind of fell into place. Now you ask yourself before you start beating up innocent bystanders, what have you done?"

"I've done nothing," Zack replied stonily.

Sky rolled his eyes. "Yeah, maybe that's the problem. She likes you and you've done nothing." And then he gave Zack a piercing look before saying, "By doing nothing, you might have pushed her away."

What Sky said made sense, Zack admitted reluctantly after he considered the idea. Though it was not that he had done nothing. On the contrary, he had been rejecting her every time she had tried to get close. How could he blame her for walking away when it was him who had encouraged it?

He heard Sky sigh wearily. "Look, just go in and talk to her, alright? She was miserable since she came back, and only you can fix it," Sky advised.

Zack glared at him, the memory of Max giving Sky a lap dance still fresh in his mind. "This doesn't mean that I like what I saw just now."

Sky groaned. "It was a bet, damn it. If I'd known that it would cause so much grief, I wouldn't have suggested it. And frankly, I didn't think that Max would actually do it. She must be really furious with you, whatever you've done. What have you done, anyway?" he asked curiously.

A frown grew on Zack's forehead. Yeah, what has he done which had upset Max that much?

Sky rolled his eyes. "Just go talk to hear. Sort things out before you decide to smash someone else's face in."

Zack threw Sky a sour look before he turned and headed back to the door leading to the bar.

* * *

Max dropped the pitcher of beer onto the table and sat facing Jondy, plastering a smile which she hoped was convincing on her face.

"You drink beer, right?" she asked lamely, not knowing what else to say. Never in a million years did Max think that her reunion with her sister would be filled with such bittersweet feeling.

"What kind of question is that?" Jondy replied with a laugh. She poured out two glasses of beer. "So? What's the story?" she asked, her face alighted with curiosity.

"I don't know what you mean," Max hedged.

Jondy rolled her eyes. "Come on, Max. It's me you're talking to here. Did Zack pull his 'I'm not into those phoney-sentimentality' act? Max, you've got to be blind not to see it. The guy's crazy about you. He barely slept and he was practically a zombie while we were searching for you."

Max felt her heart stop, stunned for a moment. Did she just hear what she thought she had heard?

"You and Zack are not together?" Max asked, needing to hear the words.

Jondy's eyes rounded comically. And then realisation dawned. "Max, please tell me this is not because you think that I'm together with Zack. Because that's just…" she paused and took in Max's stricken expression. "You did?" she exclaimed, incredulous at the revelation.

Max looked away sheepishly. "I saw the two of you in the casino and you seemed pretty close," she finally said.

Jondy broke into a grin. "Girl, you got it bad. Just as bad as Zack, actually. He wanted it to be a surprise, you know, bring you to see me. If this is not so messed up, I'll be laughing my head off right now."

Max scowled. "It's not funny, you know," she said irritably. She felt ridiculous now, having thought that Jondy and Zack were together. But what else was she supposed to think?

Quirking an eyebrow, Jondy said levelly, "Not from your end, maybe. But it sure does from here. Just wait until Zack hears about this."

Max blanched. She was going to die of embarrassment and it was all because of some stupid misunderstanding. Zack had only been trying to surprise her with Jondy, and she had to come to the wrong conclusion about the entire thing.

Jondy's eyes lighted up. "Talk about the devil. Here he comes now," she said with a cheeky grin. "And he looks just about as miserable as you do."

Max could not keep her groan from escaping. Great. Now she has to face Zack.

"But your Sky looks much better. I'm surprised that he survived whatever Zack dished out," Jondy went on, sounding impressed.

Max shot a look at her sibling, but before she could say anything, Sky walked up to them with Zack close behind him. With his customary grin in place, he greeted, "Hey, ladies. Missed me?"

If Max was not so worried about the way Zack was watching her, she would have rolled her eyes. As it was, she could not even bring herself to meet Zack's eyes. Instead, she sat there, running her fingers around the rim of her glass of beer.

Apparently oblivious to Max's concerns, Sky directed an inviting smile at Jondy. "Want to join me for a drink?"

Max pointed at the almost full glasses of beer on the table. "She's got one."

Ignoring Max, Jondy stood up and said, "Sure, let's go." Linking her arm through Sky's, she walked off, turning back once to wink at Max.

Knowing that she could not put of the inevitable any longer, Max peered up at Zack.

As her brown eyes clashed with his blue ones, she smiled nervously. _How the hell was she going to explain herself to him this time?_

"Hey," she said in a soft voice, unsure of his feelings.

Zack sat down, his eyes not leaving hers. He took a deep breath, and then slowly let it out. "Max, we need to talk."

Her lips quirked. That was a new one; the usually quiet Zack wanted to talk. She did not reply; she just nodded and watched him expectantly.

He hesitated, seemingly unsure of what he wanted to say. His eyes began to wander around the room, in a move which Max suspected designed to avoid her gaze.

She decided to prompt him. "Yes?"

His eyes snapped back to hers. And then he said, "I'm not good at this sort of thing. You know, talking."

"None of us are," she pointed out unnecessarily.

Zack nodded. "It's something Manticore discouraged in us, I think. But I'm going to try anyway," he paused a little and took a fortifying breath. "Did you leave because of something I did?" he asked, sounding uncharacteristically uncertain.

Embarrassed, Max looked down. Sighing, she mumbled, "I kind of misunderstood something."

Zack frowned in confusion. "Misunderstood what?" he asked.

"I thought, you know, when you were in the casino, that something was going on between you and Jondy," she admitted sheepishly. There, she said it. Now all she had to do was to wait for Zack to either blow up or laugh.

"What!" Zack exclaimed incredulously. "Where on earth did you get the idea?"

She looked away. "Well, she seemed to be all over you at that time," Max snapped irritably, unable to hide her discomfort.

"For the record, nothing of that sort is going on between us," Zack said defensively.

"You were not in a hurry to push her away either," she muttered under her breath.

Zack bristled as he heard her words. "What about the time you were all over those guys, huh? You think it was nice for me to watch all that?" he gritted out.

"You didn't want to have anything to do with me, remember?"

"So, you decided that I needed to be what? Taught a lesson?" he asked, his voice rising in annoyance.

Max glared at him. "No, it was just to prove a point to you."

"What point? That I have feelings?"

Max's chin jutted stubbornly. "Yes. Especially after I've gone out of my way to show you how I feel."

"I told you why we can't be together, Max," Zack said wearily.

"So, do you or not?" she pressed, not about to let him avoid answering her. Since they were talking, they might as well get everything out in the open once and for all.

"What?" he asked, his eyes flickering, a tell-tale sign that he knew what she was talking about.

Max just stared at him mutely, challenging him to answer the question.

Finally, he sighed. "You already know."

Max continued to stare at him.

Capitulating, he finally snapped, "Okay, okay." And then paused in thought. In a gentler tone, he continued, "I've always had a soft spot for you, even back in Manticore, but you already know that. After we escaped, I missed you, not knowing if you made it or not. Took me sometime, but I finally located you."

"When?" she asked curiously.

"A few years after the escape," Zack explained.

"And you didn't think that I want to see you?" Max asked bewildered. If she had the chance to see any of her siblings, she would have jumped at the opportunity. Instead, Zack waited what? More than ten years to make contact?

Zack took her hands in his, and Max felt her pulse jump. This was the first time he touched her tonight. She looked up to find his eyes fixed on hers, appealing to her to listen.

"I almost didn't recognise you with your long hair. You grew up into this beautiful girl, not the kid I knew back in Manticore anymore."

"Zack…"

"Let me finish."

Max nodded, and saw a flash of surprise in Zack's expressed. She grinned; he did not think that she was going to listen. But for the first time, Zack was talking. Really talking. And she was not about to put him off.

Clearing his throat uncomfortably, he continued, "I don't know why, but I just stood there watching. And then I left. I always went back, but each time, year after year, it became easier to watch you from a safe distance." He inhaled, and then said, "I think I was afraid that if I approached you, I won't be able to walk away."

Max sucked in her breath. She had no idea that he felt that way so far back.

Zack gave her a self-deprecating grin. "Yeah, so much for no phoney-sentimentality, right? I remember telling myself that it was just all those teenage hormones, and that it'll be easier to control when I'm older. Somehow, I managed to convince myself. Until a few weeks ago."

Max grinned.

Zack rolled his eyes. "Going into Jampony proved to be a bad idea, but I wanted to talk to you. Just to get to know you better. Your barcode appearing in the papers was probably just an excuse I gave myself."

"Zack…"

"And now that I've spilled my guts, go ahead and laugh."

Max stopped grinning. "Now why would I do that?"

"Because of all the crap I've been telling you all the time we were together."

"You did what you think was right at that time, I suppose," Max said, not quite convinced herself.

"There are certain rules we have to follow, Max, just to reduce the risk of danger," Zack explained, for what seemed like the hundredth time to Max.

She groaned helplessly. "Yeah, but those are your self-imposed rules. We're not owned by Manticore anymore," she insisted. "So, break the rules. Live a little, Zack."

Zack sighed wearily as he ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up. "Max, we've been through this. Us being together is going to be difficult. I'm used to working solo."

"But you have to admit that we make a good team in the last few weeks, right?" Max pressed, not prepared 'to give up so easily. Whether he realised it or not, Zack just said that it was going to be difficult for them to be together.

But not impossible.

'"Zack, whatever you say, I'm going to stick by your side," she said resolutely. Then she grinned, "Especially now that I know that there's nothing going on between you and Jondy. Not to mention that I finally got you to admit what you feel. That's an improvement."

Zack gave her an exasperated look. "You're infuriating, you know?"

"Yeah, but a girl's got to be herself right? And just think how much fun it'll be if I hang around," Max said with a wink.

Zack glanced quickly at her before he turned away, looking thoughtful. And then he said slowly, in a casual voice, "Well, I suppose some company won't be too bad. It does get a bit lonely on the road sometimes."

Max's eyes widened. Did Zack say what she thought she had heard him say? "I suppose it's not often that you find company."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zack enquired, offended.

Suppressing a laugh, Max said, "Well, you do have a tendency to push people away."

"I'm not pushing you away," he declared defensively.

Max grinned as she linked her fingers through his. "Yeah, I'm just irresistible, right?"

"Let me think about it," Zack said as he reached out his free hand to pull her closer. "I may need some convincing," he whispered against her lips.

Max sighed as their lips touched. She could not believe that she was sitting here kissing Zack, his fingers tangled in her hair. It seemed like just minutes ago when she felt so depressed about the entire situation.

When they broke apart, their eyes locked. Max saw her desire reflected in his eyes and she smiled. "Want to go somewhere else?" she asked saucily.

"What do you have in mind?" he enquired huskily.

"Let me surprise you," she replied.

The sound of giggles alerted them that they had an audience. Reluctantly, Zack and Max pulled apart to see Sky and Jondy standing a few feet away.

"Wow, is it hot in here or what?" Jondy asked, fanning herself.

Max saw Sky sliding a sideways look at Jondy. "Phew, yeah, now that you mention it," Sky replied. Turning to Zack and Max, he continued with a cheeky grin, "Do you need help getting a bedroom, or you think you can get to one without our help?"

"Haha, very funny, Sky," Max said flatly, but she could not keep her lips from twitching as she watched Sky and Jondy. So, Sky seemed pretty interested in Jondy. Well…

"I have a vested interest in this, you know. Without our help, the two of you would still be dancing in circles around each other," Sky stated proudly.

"Don't remind us," Zack said, obviously uncomfortable with the way he had manhandled Sky earlier. "No hard feeling?" he asked Sky meaningfully.

Sky waved a dismissive hand. "I've handled more. And I have room for more."

It was too tempting an opening for Max. "I hope you can handle Jondy. You two would make a cute couple" she teased, raising her brows at Sky.

Jondy and Sky exchanged a horrified look. "No way!" they cried simultaneously.

"I think they protested too quickly," Zack said as he stood up, offering Max his hand.

Max nodded sagely. "Not to worry. I'm sure Sky can _handle_ it," she said, and then burst into grin.

"Let's go," Zack said softly as he traced a finger down her jaw.

Max felt herself melt.

Linking their fingers together as they walked away from the table, Max glanced back at Jondy and Sky to see them staring at each other nervously. No doubt there would be lots of resistance from both parties before they got anywhere.

But that was the way they were all made. Max knew that now.

She was just happy that finally, things fell into place.

Zack and her together.

Who would have thought of that?

* * *

**The END**

A/N: I hope you all approved of the ending. It was a hard story for me to write, seeing that my normal ship is Max-Alec, so I'm especially happy that I managed to complete it. Please let me know what you think of it. And I thank all of you who have patiently waited for my increasingly slow updates and supported me through this fic. Thank you!Hugs:


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